Caleb 20 Months

I have to admit that I have had a harder time with this whole 20 month thing.  I mean it seems so old.  20 whole months?? That is way to close to two for my comfort.  I mean seriously where did my itty bitty go, and why does he have to grow up so fast?  :(

I told you to say cheese and this is the face you made....hilarious 

Caleb at 20 months:

Eating:  You eat three meals and generally 2-3 snacks a day.  You have milk in the morning and at night, and usually juice mixed with water one time a day.  You love to open the fridge and point to the juice and say "juice".  You are getting more and more picky every day :(.

Sleeping: 9:30-9/10 am.  You are still in the pack n play because I have not tried to transition you back to your big boy bed yet.  Napping one time a day around 2-21/2 hours.  You generally go down around 12:30 or 1. 

Size: You are 27 lbs and 32".  You wear 18-24 month clothes, and you can still wear a size 4/5 shoe.  I bought you a pair of size 5 sandals and they do not fit because your foot is to wide.  It is a short chubby foot :).  You are wearing a size 4 diaper. 

Speech:  You are adding words to your vocabulary daily, but you are still not what I would call a "talker".  You will say a word when you feel like it, but you still mostly communicate with gestures and "uhhs".  You have learned to sign please and thank you this month.  You also sign more, all done, hurt, eat, your made up sign for binky and diaper change.

9/10 times this is what happens when I take the binky from you...



Exciting New Things:

• You love to walk backwards and in circles now
• You throw the ball and clap for yourself all the time.
• You yell da anytime the phone rings and you yell da and run to the door anytime Bella barks.
• You love to have tummy time with Mckinlee and claim all of her new toys as your own.
• You love to draw with your new etch a sketch I got you. 
• You clean up after yourself all the time now. I love this. You will finish an activity and 8 out of 10 times you will pick it up and put it back where you got it.
• You love love love to play outside, and you can run through the back yard now :(.  When did you grow up?
• Swinging and people watching are your favorite things to do at the park.
• You hold my nipple shield to your boob when I breastfeed Mckinlee.
• You pointed to a picture of a girls boob in a magazine and said "boob".  "Where is the boob" is now yours and daddys game to play.  Lovely....
• You love to find your belly button.
• You love the sit on the toilet and flip through magazines
• Cartoons in the morning are still your favorite.
• You grab the DVD remote when you want to watch your movie and hand it to me.
•  You wave bye bye when cars pass the window and when you are going nite nite
• You are really good at walking and holding my hand when we are out in public.
• You moved up to the toddler classroom in the church nursery.  You fussed for a minute, but you had so much fun. You got to hear a story about Jesus, color a picture of Jesus and have a snack.
• You are now going to library story time and you seemed to really enjoy it.
• You love to play with magnets.
• In the bath you like to pretend like you are putting the body wash on your hands, rub them together and then clean yourself.
• When I take a bath with you, you always point for me to lay back and then you cuddle with me :).
• You are still such a great big brother. You always run to Mckinlee and kiss her when she cries, and you are great at putting the binky back in her mouth without hurting her. 
• You have a spray bottle that you follow me around the house with when I am cleaning. I will give you a paper towel and you will pretend to spray and wipe the table, floor, wall, toys etc etc.  You also like to sweep behind me with your broom, and help me "fold" laundry.  It takes me a little longer to get my chores done but I would not have it any other way. 
• You have learned how to take your shoes off and also how to buckle them.

You are growing up way to fast sweet boy. I love you to pieces and I always will.

Life Lately

I have to admit that this whole neglecting my blog thing is unintentional.  In fact, I hate it quite honestly.  I used to take pride in posting daily when Caleb was a baby, and I love all of the memories that I have captured through my posts.  However, life with 2 is a little different, and I find it hard to find the time to actually sit down and assemble a post. I mean as I type right now bundle is stirring in her swing, and I am quite sure that she is about to have a break down.  Posting when Caleb is awake is now impossible, because he has found a new love for the mouse, keyboard and computer, and God forbid you try to use either.  Therefore, I literally have two windows of time a day to post, nap and after Caleb goes to bed.  Nap time however, I well...nap, and after Caleb's bedtime I generally try to spend time with hubby. I am very thankful for all of you out there who still follow my one a week updated blog......oops I will be back in a bit bundle is sitting in my lap flopping around, and I just heard the binky hit the ground in lil mans room.......I will continue posting when I get a chance.....it may be next week.....

I am attempting with Caleb awake and Mckinlee in the boppy to continue posting. I have distracted Caleb with Word Girl, a snack and his new etch a sketch I bought him.  Lets see how this goes.  I don't fully know what all this post is going to include. I do not have a crafty, funny blog post written up in my mind, but at least it will include pictures....which will make the gparents happy. 

Last week when it was FLORIDA weather in Ky we ventured to many parks.  I took both babes to the park like a champ, we even had a picnic one day.  I will say it once again thank God for my moby wrap and ring sling, and thank the Lord bundle likes them...I just refused to let Caleb in my lap to play on the computer and he didn't melt down....it is a miracle. 

We also did a lot of cuddling, and getting used to the idea of the "potty".  Caleb grabs his diaper now when he poops, and the other night I asked him where his pee pee was and he pointed to the potty.  Wow.  I don't really know if I am ready for potty training. 

We have attended a lot of play groups.

We have also started floor, and tummy time play. Caleb likes to join in.

I have to admit life in pretty ordinary, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

PS I just finished a post with both my children awake.  YES!!!

Sleeping Beauty

I am going to begin by praying that I do not jinx us by writing this post but...........

MCKINLEE HAS SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR 5 NIGHTS NOW!!!

Can I get a hallelujah chorus???  Yes, she is in fact following in her big bros footsteps, and is officially (cross my fingers) sleep trained by 7 weeks!!!! This has been my goal all along, because as I have stated previously on this blog I am all about some sleep training.  I feel it is best for all parties involved to have a full nights sleep, so that we can all stay healthy and feel refreshed.  I am a firm believer in the idea of teaching babies the life lesson of self soothing, and not starting habits that I will one day have to break (aside from the life saver of the binky, but that is another post).  I am not writing this post to brag about my amazing children, or to rub the fact that my baby is sleeping through the night in other moms faces.  I am basically writing this post for my own memory, just incase I need the information again one day a long long time down the road. 

I am obsessed with the Babywise Method, because it WORKS. 

 There are many mixed reviews on this method, but a lot of the prejudice against it in my mind is due to a lack of understanding the true values of the method.  Basically, the method is a combination of Parent direction methods that help both you and your baby establish a schedule.  The CIO method is explained and recommended throughout the book but it is not the wholistic idea behind the method.  With Caleb and Mckinlee, I have taken the basic ideas from this book, and worked them into a schedule that works for our family.  

The beginning advice of babywise it to get your newborn on a consistent Eat, Wake, Sleep schedule.  The book breaks this down into various weeks of age, and it helps you have realistic expectations for your new baby.  When Mckinlee first came home from the hospital for about the first two weeks I fed her on demand in order to establish my milk suppy and then at age two weeks I started implementing the babywise method of spacing feedings out to 2 1/2-3 hour intervals.  The basic rule is as soon as baby wakes from a nap feed them, and try to not let them fall asleep at the breast.  This is in order to help them understand that they do not need your breast (or bottle) in order to fall asleep.  After they eat the method suggests a wake period (sometimes easier said than done with a newborn, but you do what you can).  About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours before baby is due to eat again following the 2 1/2-3 hour eating schedule you lay them down for a nap.  (This can be where you implement the cio method if you so choose).  Mckinlee has actually been great in terms of laying down for a nap and bed.  She has cried two times for about 10 minutes total with me checking in every three minutes, and then she fell asleep on her own.  CIO works for us, and I do not feel as though I am damaging my child in any way, but to each their own. 

#1 rule in helping baby learn to sleep through the night is to establish a consistent morning feeding time every day.  This will help the babies body learn to wake at that time to eat.  We started with a 8 am established feeding time for the first 6 weeks.  Now that she is sleeping through the night our time is 6:30 am.  Always wake the baby at that time (give or take 30 minutes), in order to help establish their routine. 

Late night/middle of the night I basically took different ideas from babywise/my experience with Caleb to figure out what worked best for miss Mckinlee.  Between the hours of  7-bedtime lil miss is cranky and enjoys cluster feeding.  I personally do not want to sit for hours with her attached to me and snacking so this is what I did to help it. 

• breastfeed her from both breasts before bath
• After bath warm up 4 ounces of previously pumped milk and feed it to her in a bottle to make sure she has a full feeding.
• Lay her down for bed, and allow her to self soothe. 

Early Week Middle of the Night feedings I fed from my breasts. As she started to get closer to the 6 week mark when I knew she would slowly stop needing a nighttime feeding I began feeding her from a bottle.  I started out with 3 ounces of previously pumped breast milk to feed her at her 3 am feeding.  Every three nights I would decrease the amount by 1/2 ounce in order to help her learn that she does not need a full feeding at this time.  I would then wake her at our established morning feeding time and breastfeed her.  Slowly but surely her need for the night feeding dwindled, and now if she grunts I just give her a binky and she is good to go until 6:30 am.  Baby, hubby, and I are all so much happier. 

So in conclusion

• Try to establish a 2 1/2-3 hour feeding schedule during the day with your baby.
• Feed as soon as they awake from a nap, and try to have some waketime, then lay them down for another nap.
• If they sleep the full 3 hours wake them at that time to eat.
• Provide full feeding at each feeding session to cut down on snacking.  lil miss loved to snack at first and that was a habit I had to break quickly. 
• Provide full nighttime feeding before bed.
• Lay them down drowsy but awake to learn to self soothe
• Establish morning feeding time
• Cut down nighttime feedings in order to teach them that they do not need food at this time.

I love a section of babywise that states...

"when your baby starts to sleep through the night, people will invariably say "you're just lucky", or "you;ve got a good baby".  Neither statement is true.  Your baby is sleeping through the night because you trained him or her to do so.  You can take the credit for your success." 

 

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

This past weekend my dad and sister came up for a visit.  It was the first time my dad had a chance to come visit since Mckinlee was born, and he was so anxious to get some cuddle time in.  When they arrived my dad cooked my all time favorite breakfast (biscuits and gravy), and then he sent Kat and I on a shopping spree for the babes.  I found some ADORABLE clothes for both (thanks daddy).  While we were gone he and hubby took care of the babies, and I think Mckinlee cuddled with her papaw almost the entire time. 

A funny story that I want to remember...

My dad has a deep voice and he was singing various songs to Mckinlee.  One song he sang had the verse "blue eyes crying in the rain", and every time he would sing that she would smile so big.  Also, anytime she started to fuss he would sing it and she would stop and smile. It was hilarious.  I tried after he left and it didn't work for me so I guess it is just Mckinlee/papaw thing. 

Caleb was in a bit of a mood the entire time they were here, but he started to cheer up a little towards the end of the trip.  Ohhh toddlers...your moods are so unpredictable. 

C A T S!!!!

Just for comparison sake..Caleb at 6-7 weeks