Our Noah turned three last month. We love you, Noah!
Noah is so very bright! He's observant and notices the smallest of details. Sometimes we'll be reading a book or outside somewhere and he'll show me something and I think it's so interesting that he is fascinated by this little detail. It's kind of hard to explain! But he notices stuff other people probably wouldn't. He's also very good at reading people's emotions. It reminds me how I need to be extra careful with the way I react to situations. He really notices people's expressions and the things that they say, and how they say it.
He has gotten quite shy over the past while. When he meets people, he is very quiet and reserved. Once he warms up he turns on his wild side. He also doesn't like when people kind of put him on the spot, if a stranger were to start talking to him directly and asking him questions in front of other people, that would make him very overwhelmed. He doesn't like when Jessie smiles at him. And when he tells her that she laughs because you'd think one would like someone smiling at them, haha.
Noah will be starting preschool this Fall and we're so excited! I think it'll be really good for him. He has a hard time getting along with friends, and although I understand this can be normal at this age, we're hoping he learns to get along better with others. We're excited for him to learn and experience new things. We think we found a preschool that we are going to go with.
He can recognize a few of his letters (like N & S), and recognizes most of his numbers 1-9. He can count to around 13 then starts saying random things "13, 17, 16..". He knows things like when his birthday is, his family member's full names (with middle names), how old he is and how old other people are, what season it is, and simple gospel truths. He can completely dress himself from top to bottom - although sometimes he needs help if he's not feeling motivated that day. He knows a heck of a lot of nursery rhymes and has always loved music and people singing to him. Every song on the radio that he has heard at least 2 times becomes his "favorite song". If I change it, he's VERY unhappy. He is getting more into books. Right now he loves story-books that are a little advanced for him. I think since he doesn't understand everything it keeps him more interested. Which is normally not like him. But it makes me happy because I just love reading with him.
He makes all kinds of faces right now. He scrunches his nose and forehead and makes a "scary" face. all. day! He does this when he's being a stinker. He has a lot of energy for sure. He likes to be silly and everything is about poop. Poop this. Poop that. Me: "Noah, how did you get to be so handsome?" Noah: "Because I pooped on you!!!". Me: "Noah, do you know where we're going today!?" Noah: "To the poop store!".
Speaking of that, it has definitely been a roller coaster ride with potty training. We started when he was 22 months and he did really well at first. And then it was just up and down for a long time. Last year we went through all kinds of phases and for the most part he did good, but then he'd go through a few weeks where he'd start not caring again. Then around this last Christmas he started doing really good CONSISTENTLY. For about 3 months he was pretty much 100% (besides the rare actual accident). He was going to the bathroom all by himself all the time (usually we had to bug him to go) and he was staying in the same underwear all day. We thought we were in the clear, finally. Then in March he suddenly started peeing everywhere again! I couldn't believe it! It lasted two weeks exactly and then he went back to normal. So weird. And now he's kind of in between. He usually goes on his own but has his moments where he wants to just pee in his pants and does not care! Anyway, it taught me that we're never really in the clear when they're this little I guess. Well at least for him. And I have to say, at least when he does have a problem, it's just pee :)
Noah surprises us all the time with new phrases or words he's picked up. The other day Derek told Noah he needed to go on the roof to fix some things (with the AC) and Noah said, "Daddy, don't give up!"
Noah is completely and totally a daddy's boy! And it becomes even more so as he gets older. His daddy is his everything. Mommy is the boring, mean one and daddy is the fun and more laid back one. He LOVES helping Derek with stuff around the house. Whenever Derek is working on something with the house, Noah is his little shadow. He has his own play tools that he loves. He likes to pretend to fix and work on stuff. He's a total boy when it comes to these kinds of things. One of his favorite things to do is wrestle with daddy!
Of course Noah loves Oliver but has been really struggling with sharing with him lately. Oliver isn't allowed to touch anything. That causes a major problem since Oliver obviously wants to touch and play with anything that belongs to Noah. It makes playing difficult. Noah wants me to play with him, but doesn't want Oliver to touch anything we are playing with. It Doesn't work. So that's something we're trying to work on.
That's all for now. We think it's crazy that we have a three year old already. We do our best to cherish every moment and soak it all in because we're leaning it goes so fast!
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Oliver is 10 months old!
My little guy is getting BIG! His birthday is creeping up fast. He hit 10 months old this week.
At his 9 month appointment, his doctor was concerned about his weight. He had only gained 1 pound since his 6 month appointment and he was in the 1% for weight. For height, he was pretty average, so for his height, he seemed pretty small. But he didn't look skinny by any means, but just not a huge chunk like some babies. His doctor talked to me for a while about ways to get him to gain weight. The problem is I don't feel comfortable giving him cow's milk or other animal products. I felt like I had a lower milk supply, probably due to the fact that he has never been a good nurser. He sometimes only nurses 1 minute on each side.. So we didn't feel like he was getting very much breastmilk. But I did not want to supplement with conventional formula or any that were made with cow/goat milk.
So we needed a plan! I decided I would do everything I could do increase my supply and see if that helped. I started drinking Mother's Milk Tea and that seemed to help a little. I met with a lactation consultant (even though I had been reluctant and felt she couldn't tell me, who nursed Noah almost 2 years anything I didn't already know) and thought I might as well drop my pride and at least give it a try. I felt like I wasn't giving him enough fats, so we increased his fats/proteins/carbs and lowered his fruits a bit.
We also wanted to try to give him a supplement drink. I found a recipe online made with coconut water/milk from fresh young coconuts. Of course I know this is nothing in nutrition compared to breastmilk but I felt like maybe if he had one bit bottle of this a day, it would just fill in some calories/fat. I made it but I just couldn't get him to drink it unfortunately. I tried different bottles and sippy cups. So it's just in the freezer and I guess it's good for an emergency. We also tried giving him just canned coconut milk mixed with a splash of homemade almond milk to water it down. He'll drink that sometimes, only like an ounce maximin though.
We decided to meet with the doctor 2 weeks after his 9 month appointment to check his weight. He gained a whole pound!! His weight was 16 pounds 9 ounces. We were both shocked but very pleased. And when I say we, I mean myself and the doctor. She said she wasn't as concerned anymore. And although I was never as concerned as she was, I felt much better. Since then, in the last few weeks he seems like he's gained even more and you can really see it in his cheeks! We'll get his weight checked next week at Noah's 3 year well visit.
He's also gotten stronger with his weight gain. He has started to pull up on things now. He hasn't pulled up past his knees his crib yet - Okay literally when I was writing this post I went to check on him and he was standing on his feet in his crib! He can pull up to shorter things pretty well, like our step stool, and is starting to climb our basement stairs a bit (he just gets to the first step usually). He's done an army crawl for about 2.5 months and I don't know if he'll ever start crawling on his knees. He gets up on his knees but when he wants to move forward he flops back to his belly and army crawls away! He's really fast and goes all over the house like that. I have to really make sure I close the basement door and the bathroom door now (he likes to play with Noah's potty...).
He eats a lot of food! He usually eats as much as or more than Noah. He literally will eat anything. But his favorite I think is blueberries and blackberries. My boys just love berries (like me!). Also beans and peas. He's fun to watch eat, he just gobbles everything down so fast and makes a huge mess! He could literally eat a whole banana in a few minutes. He's a plant based baby and it makes me so happy.
Oliver is a feisty little baby. His temperament reminds me of Noah in many ways. I used to think they were different because Oliver has always been very smiley and more animated. But they're actually quite similar in a lot of ways. They both have strong personalities and I would never describe them as "easy going". Oliver has started having little tantrums already. If you take something away from him or don't allow him to do something he wants to do. Or if you take him out of the bath. He REALLY loves baths and splashes with his hands like crazy! He even tries to stand up and get in the tub by himself, haha. Oliver is generally very smiley and social. But he's also sensitive and at times, timid. He is easily startled and afraid. Specifically with people. I don't remember Noah EVER crying with a stranger as a baby/toddler. Oliver is definitely more attached to mommy than Noah was.
Basically my life story right now is this: Oliver wants to touch EVERYTHING that belongs to Noah. And Noah doesn't want Oliver to touch ANYTHING of his! It's a real struggle. Noah also takes away Oliver's own toys too. But Oliver really likes Noah's toys It's kind of driving me crazy! He loves Oliver to pieces but has become a bully to him the last few months. I don't know why he is like that, he's also like that with his friends and he was like that with his kitty, Jovi (why we had to give her to my mom). So playing together is a challenge right now. I hope we get through this phase fast.. It's kind of sad because Oliver LOVES Noah so much and loves more than anything just to play with his stuff and with him, haha. He wants to be around people and see "what's going on" all the time. He's very inquisitive.
Oliver makes silly sounds, and talks like "derka derka", using his tongue and makes a bunch of gibberish mostly. He does make the sound "dada" but not really "mama" or anything like that. He can be very loud!! Sometimes it seems like he's mad but I think he's just trying to get his voice heard haha.
Oliver is sleeping better.. but still not even close to "ideally". But that's okay! I don't wish that he would sleep through the night every night (although that would be amazing), but it would be nice if he only woke up once every night. Some nights he only wakes once, but most nights it's at least twice, sometimes 3-4 times in a 12 hour period. Most of his wakings are right after he goes to sleep though. We usually put him to bed around 6:45-7:00. but he almost always wakes up 30 minutes later because he's overtired. And then sometimes another 30 minutes later. Once we get him to sleep after that first initial waking(s), he usually wakes at around 11 to nurse and then sometimes another 1-2 times (maybe around 3, and occasionally again at 5 or 6) before he wakes up at around 7. Derek has been amazing with helping me in the nights. I just can't get up more than once after I've already gone to sleep. So if he wakes up again, Derek usually goes and gets him back to sleep. Also if I go in there he'll want to nurse again and I don't want him to get used to nursing several times throughout the night.
He is taking two naps most days. He'll go down for his first nap around 8:30-9:00. Sometimes he'll only sleep 30 minutes, sometimes 1 1/2 hours. He'll go down for his afternoon nap around 12:30-1:00, right before I try to get Noah down for his nap, too. Then he'll usually take a 1-2 hour nap. Noah definitely needed more sleep at this time. Oliver does technically need more, he's still tired, but he still functions without as much, he just gets more grumpy.
I think that's about it. I can't think of anything else. He loves his family. He gets so happy when he wakes up and I take him to go see his daddy or Noah, or little Sophia. He loves to explore and go outside and see everything! He is a pretty happy baby, just kind of whiney sometimes too :) But we love him so much! I still look at him and think, how are you my baby!? Haha, although I must admit, with his chunkier cheeks lately, he does resemble baby me a tad more.
Love you Ollie boy!
At his 9 month appointment, his doctor was concerned about his weight. He had only gained 1 pound since his 6 month appointment and he was in the 1% for weight. For height, he was pretty average, so for his height, he seemed pretty small. But he didn't look skinny by any means, but just not a huge chunk like some babies. His doctor talked to me for a while about ways to get him to gain weight. The problem is I don't feel comfortable giving him cow's milk or other animal products. I felt like I had a lower milk supply, probably due to the fact that he has never been a good nurser. He sometimes only nurses 1 minute on each side.. So we didn't feel like he was getting very much breastmilk. But I did not want to supplement with conventional formula or any that were made with cow/goat milk.
So we needed a plan! I decided I would do everything I could do increase my supply and see if that helped. I started drinking Mother's Milk Tea and that seemed to help a little. I met with a lactation consultant (even though I had been reluctant and felt she couldn't tell me, who nursed Noah almost 2 years anything I didn't already know) and thought I might as well drop my pride and at least give it a try. I felt like I wasn't giving him enough fats, so we increased his fats/proteins/carbs and lowered his fruits a bit.
We also wanted to try to give him a supplement drink. I found a recipe online made with coconut water/milk from fresh young coconuts. Of course I know this is nothing in nutrition compared to breastmilk but I felt like maybe if he had one bit bottle of this a day, it would just fill in some calories/fat. I made it but I just couldn't get him to drink it unfortunately. I tried different bottles and sippy cups. So it's just in the freezer and I guess it's good for an emergency. We also tried giving him just canned coconut milk mixed with a splash of homemade almond milk to water it down. He'll drink that sometimes, only like an ounce maximin though.
We decided to meet with the doctor 2 weeks after his 9 month appointment to check his weight. He gained a whole pound!! His weight was 16 pounds 9 ounces. We were both shocked but very pleased. And when I say we, I mean myself and the doctor. She said she wasn't as concerned anymore. And although I was never as concerned as she was, I felt much better. Since then, in the last few weeks he seems like he's gained even more and you can really see it in his cheeks! We'll get his weight checked next week at Noah's 3 year well visit.
He's also gotten stronger with his weight gain. He has started to pull up on things now. He hasn't pulled up past his knees his crib yet - Okay literally when I was writing this post I went to check on him and he was standing on his feet in his crib! He can pull up to shorter things pretty well, like our step stool, and is starting to climb our basement stairs a bit (he just gets to the first step usually). He's done an army crawl for about 2.5 months and I don't know if he'll ever start crawling on his knees. He gets up on his knees but when he wants to move forward he flops back to his belly and army crawls away! He's really fast and goes all over the house like that. I have to really make sure I close the basement door and the bathroom door now (he likes to play with Noah's potty...).
He eats a lot of food! He usually eats as much as or more than Noah. He literally will eat anything. But his favorite I think is blueberries and blackberries. My boys just love berries (like me!). Also beans and peas. He's fun to watch eat, he just gobbles everything down so fast and makes a huge mess! He could literally eat a whole banana in a few minutes. He's a plant based baby and it makes me so happy.
Oliver is a feisty little baby. His temperament reminds me of Noah in many ways. I used to think they were different because Oliver has always been very smiley and more animated. But they're actually quite similar in a lot of ways. They both have strong personalities and I would never describe them as "easy going". Oliver has started having little tantrums already. If you take something away from him or don't allow him to do something he wants to do. Or if you take him out of the bath. He REALLY loves baths and splashes with his hands like crazy! He even tries to stand up and get in the tub by himself, haha. Oliver is generally very smiley and social. But he's also sensitive and at times, timid. He is easily startled and afraid. Specifically with people. I don't remember Noah EVER crying with a stranger as a baby/toddler. Oliver is definitely more attached to mommy than Noah was.
Basically my life story right now is this: Oliver wants to touch EVERYTHING that belongs to Noah. And Noah doesn't want Oliver to touch ANYTHING of his! It's a real struggle. Noah also takes away Oliver's own toys too. But Oliver really likes Noah's toys It's kind of driving me crazy! He loves Oliver to pieces but has become a bully to him the last few months. I don't know why he is like that, he's also like that with his friends and he was like that with his kitty, Jovi (why we had to give her to my mom). So playing together is a challenge right now. I hope we get through this phase fast.. It's kind of sad because Oliver LOVES Noah so much and loves more than anything just to play with his stuff and with him, haha. He wants to be around people and see "what's going on" all the time. He's very inquisitive.
Oliver makes silly sounds, and talks like "derka derka", using his tongue and makes a bunch of gibberish mostly. He does make the sound "dada" but not really "mama" or anything like that. He can be very loud!! Sometimes it seems like he's mad but I think he's just trying to get his voice heard haha.
Oliver is sleeping better.. but still not even close to "ideally". But that's okay! I don't wish that he would sleep through the night every night (although that would be amazing), but it would be nice if he only woke up once every night. Some nights he only wakes once, but most nights it's at least twice, sometimes 3-4 times in a 12 hour period. Most of his wakings are right after he goes to sleep though. We usually put him to bed around 6:45-7:00. but he almost always wakes up 30 minutes later because he's overtired. And then sometimes another 30 minutes later. Once we get him to sleep after that first initial waking(s), he usually wakes at around 11 to nurse and then sometimes another 1-2 times (maybe around 3, and occasionally again at 5 or 6) before he wakes up at around 7. Derek has been amazing with helping me in the nights. I just can't get up more than once after I've already gone to sleep. So if he wakes up again, Derek usually goes and gets him back to sleep. Also if I go in there he'll want to nurse again and I don't want him to get used to nursing several times throughout the night.
He is taking two naps most days. He'll go down for his first nap around 8:30-9:00. Sometimes he'll only sleep 30 minutes, sometimes 1 1/2 hours. He'll go down for his afternoon nap around 12:30-1:00, right before I try to get Noah down for his nap, too. Then he'll usually take a 1-2 hour nap. Noah definitely needed more sleep at this time. Oliver does technically need more, he's still tired, but he still functions without as much, he just gets more grumpy.
I think that's about it. I can't think of anything else. He loves his family. He gets so happy when he wakes up and I take him to go see his daddy or Noah, or little Sophia. He loves to explore and go outside and see everything! He is a pretty happy baby, just kind of whiney sometimes too :) But we love him so much! I still look at him and think, how are you my baby!? Haha, although I must admit, with his chunkier cheeks lately, he does resemble baby me a tad more.
Love you Ollie boy!
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Oliver is 7 Months!
My baby is growing, growing, growing! Seven months old already. Things were still extremely challenging until the past few weeks. We moved Oliver into his crib around 4 1/2 months and decided things had to change. Things are finally starting to calm down a bit and become a little more consistent. It's still challenging and super frustrating when Oliver doesn't sleep but I'm not at my breaking point every day anymore. From the time he was 2 months until 6 months I felt like I never wanted any more children because I could never and would never want to put myself, my baby or anyone in my family through this again. I felt like I had to either choose for myself to suffer (emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually) or for Oliver to suffer by letting him cry and cry and cry until he learned to stop crying for us. I didn't want either of those things. I tried letting him cry it out one day but I just really couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. Thankfully things slowly started to get better on their own. I think his internal clock is starting to become more regular since he's getting older, he's also learning how to fall asleep on his own better, and I think he's getting used to somewhat of a daily routine.
He's still not able to stay awake too long before getting too stimulated and over tired. So that's the tricky part, knowing when to put him down. But I'm getting better at figuring it out. He has 2-3 naps during the day now. The improvements we've been seeing the last few weeks.. Most nights he's only waking up 2-3 times in a 12 hour period - once around the time Derek and I are going to bed, and then around 2 or 3 am, then sometimes he wakes up again at 5:30 or 6 but not usually. He usually wakes for the day around 6:30 -7:00. This is MOST nights. The last few days he's had some rough nights waking 5 times... So hopefully he gets back to improving again. Another improvement, most days I am able to put him down to sleep during the day and in the night, while he's still awake, and he can fall asleep on his own without crying. Not always, but more and more. So that's HUGE! Before it was like 1-2 hours of trying a million different things to get him to sleep and lots of crying. Another new thing.. wait for it... he's taking actual naps now!!! Yay! The 30 minute naps are starting to fade. Most days he takes at least one good nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours long) and some days he takes two good naps! It's seriously a miracle! I don't think people understand how amazing this is, for him to sleep 2 hours. It still blows my mind. He never did this until just recently. Even as a newborn, Oliver didn't take long naps! Like, what the heck. My life is going to completely change if this continues.
Anyway, I just had to get that out there! But here's a little more about our big guy!
Oliver is still a happy, smiley, attention seeking boy. He loves people! But can also be scared of people. Haha. I guess he likes them from afar maybe. He's always been much more sensitive to new people and places than Noah was. He is also getting a bit clingy lately. Which is funny though, because I guess I wrote about that for Noah when he was this age too. It must be a phase. Oliver loves his mommy! Sometimes he'll be totally content until he sees me and then starts whining for mommy.
He also LOVES his big brother. It's so fun now that they can interact and have fun together. They love each other. Noah likes to talk to Oliver in silly voices and Oliver just laughs. He thinks Noah is the funniest person ever. It just melts my heart. I can't describe the joy I get when they make each other happy. It's so precious. And of course Oliver loves his daddy too.
Oliver is such a grabber! He needs to grab everything and gets very upset if you take something away from him. And everything goes to the mouth. He seems like he's also a curious boy, like his brother. I have been reminded of why I cut my hair when Noah was a baby. Oliver's hands love to find their way all tangled up in there!
We've been a bit more slow with giving him new foods to try. We're doing Baby Led Weaning again and still love the convenience and fun of it. But I feel like with Noah I was always making new things for him and this time I kind of forget about Oliver and then think, whoops, there's not much for him to eat in this meal. I mean, most days what we eat he can have at least one thing, but picking up things like rice, quinoa, or very small things is still a bit challenging for him. So I need to be better at making more veggies he can eat. I've just been really bad at planning our meals lately with how busy the holidays are, but it's okay. He really LOVES eating though. And he actually is doing really well, and caught on right away with it.
Little Oliver has started rolling much more now. We were wondering when he was going to start rolling around because Noah rolled from point A to B from the time he was around 5 months until he started crawling. Now Oliver is starting to roll more but still not like Noah did. He can sit up but not for very long actually before tumbling over. It'll be nice when he can sit for longer. Oliver isn't close to crawling but he has started enjoying being on his tummy more and is starting to want to move forward, but hasn't figured it out yet.
It's funny, I was thinking, there's no way Oliver will be making babbling sounds this month like Noah did. But just last night we heard him making all kinds of new sounds in his crib. And then he started saying "dada"! And said it a few times today too. It's so fun when they start making these sounds!
Oliver still has his blue eyes! Although they look like they're starting to change.. but it's so hard to tell. I still am curious to know what they'll end up looking like. I have a lot of people tell me they think they'll stay blue, but then many people say their baby had blue eyes until they were one. I also read online about babies changing eye color from blue to brown at 15 months! Geez. So we're still waiting. They just have a dark, grayish hue to them sometimes. Either way, we love his big, "bug eyes" as people call them, haha.
It always surprises me with how many people comment on how beautiful he is. Of course we think he's beautiful and perfect, but it seems like everyone else agrees, haha. Or I guess they could be sucking up to us. Nah, he really is beautiful. His Uncle Jared has been favoriting him lately. He just loves him.
Anyway, happy 7 months big guy. We love you and time sure is flying!
He's still not able to stay awake too long before getting too stimulated and over tired. So that's the tricky part, knowing when to put him down. But I'm getting better at figuring it out. He has 2-3 naps during the day now. The improvements we've been seeing the last few weeks.. Most nights he's only waking up 2-3 times in a 12 hour period - once around the time Derek and I are going to bed, and then around 2 or 3 am, then sometimes he wakes up again at 5:30 or 6 but not usually. He usually wakes for the day around 6:30 -7:00. This is MOST nights. The last few days he's had some rough nights waking 5 times... So hopefully he gets back to improving again. Another improvement, most days I am able to put him down to sleep during the day and in the night, while he's still awake, and he can fall asleep on his own without crying. Not always, but more and more. So that's HUGE! Before it was like 1-2 hours of trying a million different things to get him to sleep and lots of crying. Another new thing.. wait for it... he's taking actual naps now!!! Yay! The 30 minute naps are starting to fade. Most days he takes at least one good nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours long) and some days he takes two good naps! It's seriously a miracle! I don't think people understand how amazing this is, for him to sleep 2 hours. It still blows my mind. He never did this until just recently. Even as a newborn, Oliver didn't take long naps! Like, what the heck. My life is going to completely change if this continues.
Anyway, I just had to get that out there! But here's a little more about our big guy!
Oliver is still a happy, smiley, attention seeking boy. He loves people! But can also be scared of people. Haha. I guess he likes them from afar maybe. He's always been much more sensitive to new people and places than Noah was. He is also getting a bit clingy lately. Which is funny though, because I guess I wrote about that for Noah when he was this age too. It must be a phase. Oliver loves his mommy! Sometimes he'll be totally content until he sees me and then starts whining for mommy.
He also LOVES his big brother. It's so fun now that they can interact and have fun together. They love each other. Noah likes to talk to Oliver in silly voices and Oliver just laughs. He thinks Noah is the funniest person ever. It just melts my heart. I can't describe the joy I get when they make each other happy. It's so precious. And of course Oliver loves his daddy too.
Oliver is such a grabber! He needs to grab everything and gets very upset if you take something away from him. And everything goes to the mouth. He seems like he's also a curious boy, like his brother. I have been reminded of why I cut my hair when Noah was a baby. Oliver's hands love to find their way all tangled up in there!
We've been a bit more slow with giving him new foods to try. We're doing Baby Led Weaning again and still love the convenience and fun of it. But I feel like with Noah I was always making new things for him and this time I kind of forget about Oliver and then think, whoops, there's not much for him to eat in this meal. I mean, most days what we eat he can have at least one thing, but picking up things like rice, quinoa, or very small things is still a bit challenging for him. So I need to be better at making more veggies he can eat. I've just been really bad at planning our meals lately with how busy the holidays are, but it's okay. He really LOVES eating though. And he actually is doing really well, and caught on right away with it.
Little Oliver has started rolling much more now. We were wondering when he was going to start rolling around because Noah rolled from point A to B from the time he was around 5 months until he started crawling. Now Oliver is starting to roll more but still not like Noah did. He can sit up but not for very long actually before tumbling over. It'll be nice when he can sit for longer. Oliver isn't close to crawling but he has started enjoying being on his tummy more and is starting to want to move forward, but hasn't figured it out yet.
It's funny, I was thinking, there's no way Oliver will be making babbling sounds this month like Noah did. But just last night we heard him making all kinds of new sounds in his crib. And then he started saying "dada"! And said it a few times today too. It's so fun when they start making these sounds!
Oliver still has his blue eyes! Although they look like they're starting to change.. but it's so hard to tell. I still am curious to know what they'll end up looking like. I have a lot of people tell me they think they'll stay blue, but then many people say their baby had blue eyes until they were one. I also read online about babies changing eye color from blue to brown at 15 months! Geez. So we're still waiting. They just have a dark, grayish hue to them sometimes. Either way, we love his big, "bug eyes" as people call them, haha.
It always surprises me with how many people comment on how beautiful he is. Of course we think he's beautiful and perfect, but it seems like everyone else agrees, haha. Or I guess they could be sucking up to us. Nah, he really is beautiful. His Uncle Jared has been favoriting him lately. He just loves him.
Anyway, happy 7 months big guy. We love you and time sure is flying!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Noah at 2 1/2
Noah is one heck of a character. I can't believe we created him. I could write so much about this kid. Here is all about Noah at 2 1/2 years old.
First off, Noah is a talker. He talks like the average three year old. He amazes us and others around him with his vocabulary. It's so fun having conversations with him and hearing everything that goes on in his head. It's really entertaining to sit there and ask him questions (as long as he's in the mood to sit and talk!)
He LOVES to sing songs, especially nursery rhymes. He is always singing and picks up favorite songs and sings them on repeat. One week he sang Ba-Ba Black Sheep over and over and over again. Then switched it to Rain, Rain, Go Away, then the ABC song. Then it was I love to see the Temple. He learns songs quickly and can remember all the words. We sing a lot of primary songs together.
Although he can sing his alphabet, he's still learning to recognize his letters. He can usually point out an "N" or "S" (for Sophia) but sometimes gets letters mixed up. But he loves to find written words on things. He has been able to count since he turned two. He can count easily to 10 and then starts shouting out random numbers like nineteen, thirteen, nineteen, seventeen... Same as the letters, he can usually recognize some numbers, like 1, 2, 0 but sometimes gets them mixed up. What's funny is several months ago he actually recognized more numbers than he does now, it's like he forgot. But he loves to act like he knows all the letters and numbers. He loves to find N's and say "That's N for Noah!".
Noah can be very busy-busy and go-go-go, yet other times, like in new places, he's very observant and it takes him a little while to become that busy kid in that new environment. He usually needs some warming up - not like he's afraid necessarily, but he needs time to observe and then act. This goes along with people too. He takes some warming up, and can come across as shy, and then he becomes your best friend.
He notices small details, or reads them in a way that you wouldn't have thought yourself. He's good at reading situations and he can really pick up on our emotions by the tone of our voice, our face etc. Sometime's if I'm kind of in a deep thought and maybe worried about something and not realizing it, he'll look at me and say, "mommy, are you happy?". Derek and I are really working on how we communicate, respond, and express our emotions so we can teach by example. Although, it usually feels like we're teaching him the opposite! It's hard when you're still practicing yourself how to react appropriately as well.
Noah still loves trains, and anything that moves. He went on the Heber Creeper train this Summer with Papa, Grammies and some of his cousins. Riding the train is his favorite thing to do at the Hogle Zoo.
His new thing is gymnastics. Especially since Hugh came here in the Summer. Just like he taught himself how to hit a ball, he taught himself how to do a somersault. One day he said, "Look mommy! This is my nastics!" and rolled over. Everything for the last several months has been his "nastics". He pulls up and climbs over everything and calls it gymnastics. He's pretty good! I want to put him in a class this Spring. He loves watching videos of Hugh doing his routines.
This kid is hilarious. He seriously cracks us up! I'm sure all parents think their kid is the funniest, but seriously.. OURS REALLY IS :) Just kidding. But really. He started saying things like "what the heck" and we're like, what! The things he comes up with, Derek and I look at each other and are just like, since when is he a teenager?!
He likes to collect things, like tiny things he finds or random things around the house - to hold in his hand, or to put in a bag and then carry around the bag. It's so fun to watch and hear him play, by himself or with others. Coming up with games, like "I'm the daddy, you're the mommy". He likes to play pretend and makes lots of things "babies". Like a grape, or a tiny pom pom ball he found, or sometimes he'll even just take a burp cloth and wrap it up in a ball and say there's a baby in there. It's so cute. He's getting so much more interested in Oliver, and has really been loving on him lately and always sings to him and calls him cute.
He makes silly voices and has a new silly laugh that he does about 100 times a day. He'll do something he thinks is funny and go "HAHA!" in the funniest way. I wish I could insert the sound into here.
Noah still naps 1.5-2 hours a day. Which I am so grateful for. I have friends with kids the same age and they have stopped napping already. He really really needs his nap. As he always has. He usually wakes up around 7 and goes to bed between 8-9 but we're trying to move it back a bit earlier. During the Summer months, he started going to bed so late and I want to get him back to going to bed around 7:30-8:00.
Some of Noah's favorite foods right now...
Fruit: strawberries, blueberries , oranges
Vegetables: asparagus, green beans and broccoli (cooked), bell peppers raw, tomatoes from the garden
He also LOVES any type of beans - especially garbanzo (like his mommy). He loves quinoa and rice and bread with nut butter. Oh and he LOVES cereal. He does really like plain yogurt and cheese but I haven't been buying those things anymore, since we're trying to cut down on our animal products.
Noah did okay transitioning into his toddler bed. The hardest part was getting him to sleep but he would usually stay in his bed all night once he was actually asleep. But that didn't last long. By the time Oliver was born, he started sneaking into our room some nights. And it quickly became an every night thing. For months Derek would put him back in his bed and have to stay in there until he fell asleep or else he'd cry. But once Oliver started sleeping horribly, we were both exhausted that most nights Derek didn't even realize when Noah would climb into our bed. Lately we've been so focused on getting Oliver to sleep better that we're like, okay fine, we'll tackle Noah's sleep once Oliver is doing better (which he is starting to). I don't necessarily mind Noah sleeping with us as much as I used to, because now he at least sleeps (as opposed to rolling around and keeping us up). But he does wake us up sometimes and I just would like to have our own bed back, haha.
The reason Noah comes into our room at night is because he says he's scared of monsters. I don't know how he became so scared of monsters but it's pretty legit. If he is in a dark room by himself or something he'll start crying and say "there's a monster coming!" It's sad.
I could keep going and going and going but I don't have enough time. How much I love our little Noah. Actually he's becoming more and more of our big boy. We love you bud!
First off, Noah is a talker. He talks like the average three year old. He amazes us and others around him with his vocabulary. It's so fun having conversations with him and hearing everything that goes on in his head. It's really entertaining to sit there and ask him questions (as long as he's in the mood to sit and talk!)
He LOVES to sing songs, especially nursery rhymes. He is always singing and picks up favorite songs and sings them on repeat. One week he sang Ba-Ba Black Sheep over and over and over again. Then switched it to Rain, Rain, Go Away, then the ABC song. Then it was I love to see the Temple. He learns songs quickly and can remember all the words. We sing a lot of primary songs together.
Although he can sing his alphabet, he's still learning to recognize his letters. He can usually point out an "N" or "S" (for Sophia) but sometimes gets letters mixed up. But he loves to find written words on things. He has been able to count since he turned two. He can count easily to 10 and then starts shouting out random numbers like nineteen, thirteen, nineteen, seventeen... Same as the letters, he can usually recognize some numbers, like 1, 2, 0 but sometimes gets them mixed up. What's funny is several months ago he actually recognized more numbers than he does now, it's like he forgot. But he loves to act like he knows all the letters and numbers. He loves to find N's and say "That's N for Noah!".
Noah can be very busy-busy and go-go-go, yet other times, like in new places, he's very observant and it takes him a little while to become that busy kid in that new environment. He usually needs some warming up - not like he's afraid necessarily, but he needs time to observe and then act. This goes along with people too. He takes some warming up, and can come across as shy, and then he becomes your best friend.
He notices small details, or reads them in a way that you wouldn't have thought yourself. He's good at reading situations and he can really pick up on our emotions by the tone of our voice, our face etc. Sometime's if I'm kind of in a deep thought and maybe worried about something and not realizing it, he'll look at me and say, "mommy, are you happy?". Derek and I are really working on how we communicate, respond, and express our emotions so we can teach by example. Although, it usually feels like we're teaching him the opposite! It's hard when you're still practicing yourself how to react appropriately as well.
Noah still loves trains, and anything that moves. He went on the Heber Creeper train this Summer with Papa, Grammies and some of his cousins. Riding the train is his favorite thing to do at the Hogle Zoo.
His new thing is gymnastics. Especially since Hugh came here in the Summer. Just like he taught himself how to hit a ball, he taught himself how to do a somersault. One day he said, "Look mommy! This is my nastics!" and rolled over. Everything for the last several months has been his "nastics". He pulls up and climbs over everything and calls it gymnastics. He's pretty good! I want to put him in a class this Spring. He loves watching videos of Hugh doing his routines.
This kid is hilarious. He seriously cracks us up! I'm sure all parents think their kid is the funniest, but seriously.. OURS REALLY IS :) Just kidding. But really. He started saying things like "what the heck" and we're like, what! The things he comes up with, Derek and I look at each other and are just like, since when is he a teenager?!
He likes to collect things, like tiny things he finds or random things around the house - to hold in his hand, or to put in a bag and then carry around the bag. It's so fun to watch and hear him play, by himself or with others. Coming up with games, like "I'm the daddy, you're the mommy". He likes to play pretend and makes lots of things "babies". Like a grape, or a tiny pom pom ball he found, or sometimes he'll even just take a burp cloth and wrap it up in a ball and say there's a baby in there. It's so cute. He's getting so much more interested in Oliver, and has really been loving on him lately and always sings to him and calls him cute.
He makes silly voices and has a new silly laugh that he does about 100 times a day. He'll do something he thinks is funny and go "HAHA!" in the funniest way. I wish I could insert the sound into here.
Noah still naps 1.5-2 hours a day. Which I am so grateful for. I have friends with kids the same age and they have stopped napping already. He really really needs his nap. As he always has. He usually wakes up around 7 and goes to bed between 8-9 but we're trying to move it back a bit earlier. During the Summer months, he started going to bed so late and I want to get him back to going to bed around 7:30-8:00.
Some of Noah's favorite foods right now...
Fruit: strawberries, blueberries , oranges
Vegetables: asparagus, green beans and broccoli (cooked), bell peppers raw, tomatoes from the garden
He also LOVES any type of beans - especially garbanzo (like his mommy). He loves quinoa and rice and bread with nut butter. Oh and he LOVES cereal. He does really like plain yogurt and cheese but I haven't been buying those things anymore, since we're trying to cut down on our animal products.
Noah did okay transitioning into his toddler bed. The hardest part was getting him to sleep but he would usually stay in his bed all night once he was actually asleep. But that didn't last long. By the time Oliver was born, he started sneaking into our room some nights. And it quickly became an every night thing. For months Derek would put him back in his bed and have to stay in there until he fell asleep or else he'd cry. But once Oliver started sleeping horribly, we were both exhausted that most nights Derek didn't even realize when Noah would climb into our bed. Lately we've been so focused on getting Oliver to sleep better that we're like, okay fine, we'll tackle Noah's sleep once Oliver is doing better (which he is starting to). I don't necessarily mind Noah sleeping with us as much as I used to, because now he at least sleeps (as opposed to rolling around and keeping us up). But he does wake us up sometimes and I just would like to have our own bed back, haha.
The reason Noah comes into our room at night is because he says he's scared of monsters. I don't know how he became so scared of monsters but it's pretty legit. If he is in a dark room by himself or something he'll start crying and say "there's a monster coming!" It's sad.
I could keep going and going and going but I don't have enough time. How much I love our little Noah. Actually he's becoming more and more of our big boy. We love you bud!
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Oliver at 4 Months
A litte bit about Oliver's first 4 months...
One of the first things I noticed about Oliver when he was born was his tongue. As I figured, we had another tongue tied baby. He actually did much better than Noah with nursing in the beginning. I think a lot of this had to do with me though - I was much more experienced after nursing Noah for 21 months. Oliver latched on, it wasn't a very deep latch but he did at least. He did okay in the hospital but he wasn't getting the best latch and I knew he would most likely start having the same problems that Noah did. It was a hard decision but before we left we had the pediatrician clip his frenulum. I didn't really want him to do it because I knew pediatricians aren't the best person to take care of that - it's better to go to a specialist. But the oral surgeon who did Noah's was booked for a few weeks and I just wanted to have a good start with nursing.
I could tell the pediatrician didn't clip it very good though, and I knew he was still tied. His latch still felt uncomfortable and tight. At one week old he started showing some of the same symptoms as Noah - spitting up a ton, crying during feedings and seemed in pain. I instantly called around and found a doctor that I had forgotten about down in Lehi. To make a long story short, I took him down, they revised his tongue and lip via laser. It was hard but I knew it would help him because it helped Noah so much.
He got better. His nursing quickly improved and he did really well for about a month and a half. The only thing he was still doing was latching on and off a lot. But he was otherwise nursing great and gaining a lot of weight. He was also sleeping 6-8 hour stretches at night!
At two months, he had his vaccinations. I keep telling myself it must have been a weird coincidence.. but after that he started crying really bad whenever he'd try to nurse and was starting to refuse to nurse actually. He also started spitting up way more and started waking up earlier to feed in the night than he normally did.
Within days it got worse. He was now barely nursing at all and waking up a few times at night. It was super frustrating and so sad to watch him struggle.
I took him back to the doctor. He said it was reflux and prescribed some baby zantac which of course I was so hesitant not to give to him. We gave it some time first, but after a couple of weeks I couldn't watch him suffer anymore. We started him on the meds. Two weeks into it and it still wasn't helping. So back to the doctor. They prescribed Prevacid. Stronger stuff.. hm, even more hesitant! But we tried it. We're over two weeks into this and it has improved his feedings. He is now nursing again without screaming! He still pulls on and off and seems like he's struggling a bit. Sometimes if I have a strong let down he seems to struggle more and cries but it's not nearly as bad as before.
He's sleeping a tiny bit better I'd say, and when I say that I mean he's still waking up several times in the night, but it's usually easier to get him back to sleep whereas before he would sometimes be up for a while crying.
It's hard though. Extremely tough on me and Derek physically and emotionally. He's basically sleeping with us all night now because I've gotten to the point of extreme exhaustion and most nights I can't even pull myself out of bed. So we put him to bed in his pack n play at bedtime (we put him and Noah down at the same time, around 8:00-9:00). He usually wakes up at least once before we even get to bed. Then he wakes up shortly after we fall asleep and I'm already exhausted so I just bring in the bed with me and nurse him. The he usually wakes up at least 3-4 more times. It's even more hard because he sleeps worse now than he did as a newborn (besides the first couple of days) and we did not go through this at all with Noah! By this point Noah was sleeping 9-10 hours every single night.
He also doesn't nap! It's extremely hard to get him to fall asleep and once he does he wakes up after sleeping 30 minutes. If I'm lucky, I can usually get him to fall back asleep for at least some of his naps. Then he'll sleep another 30 minutes and sometimes if I'm really lucky I can get him back to sleep for another 30 minutes. But most of his daytime sleeping is done in my arms or sometimes the carrier, and NEVER his crib. Oh Oliver, I think you're trying to kill me!
Oliver has been a light sleeper from the beginning though. I remember the first week he was born, every time he'd fall asleep I'd try to do some newborn pictures of him and he's instantly wake up and cry! He has never taken long naps, it was so weird! Noah would fall asleep and I'd have to practically dump a cup of water on him to wake him up so he would eat! Haha. It was SO different. Even now, Noah is a pretty deep sleeper and NEEDS his sleep.
We were so "by the book" with Noah and all about schedules, sleep training etc. But we found that in the end, Noah is two and we still struggle to get him to sleep and stay in his bed. And as a baby Noah had such a hard time sleeping anywhere BUT his crib. And people kept saying, you've trained him to sleep in his crib! So with Oliver, I thought, okay I want him to be able to sleep anywhere! So I planned on being much more relaxed and didn't worry about a schedule at first. But it's kind of backfired and now he will absolutely not sleep in his crib and cannot for the life of him fall asleep on his own. But honestly, even if I tried to do a schedule, it wouldn't work because his sleep is so inconsistent I couldn't figure out a schedule that would work for him. So it's just kind of a mess right now. We'll figure it out eventually! One day. Hopefully before he's one! This momma needs sleep! We're going to give the medicine a little longer and see if anything else improves. If nothing else improves, we might take him off of it and see what happens.
Anyway, a little more about Oliver. Besides not sleeping good anymore and struggling a bit with nursing, he is such a happy little guy! Honestly, before he hit two months (when all these problems got really bad), we were like wow, he is a lot easier and happier than Noah was! He smiles all the time! At everyone. It's so cute. Looking back I'm like, yeah Noah was pretty serious as a baby (he still is). He smiled but you had to work for it. Sometimes I just LOOK at Oliver and he starts smiling, haha. He's really such a little sweetie pie.
He seems super social and when someone is talking to me he usually ends up smiling at them. He laughs at the most random things sometimes. It seems like him, Noah and Derek all have the same sense of humor... when someone falls down or trips, or something falls, or something did something stupid. He loves to watch Noah.
He is turning more blonde which was not expected either. His older hair, the longer stuff in the back that he hasn't lost is more of a dark auburn color but all of his new hair coming in looks more like an ashy blonde. Sometimes he reminds me of my dad actually. The face that my dad makes in pictures, haha. But he also really looks like Derek lately. Some people say Elijah too, but I don't see that as much, maybe just because Elijah always had very dark eyes as a baby.
He is grabbing onto things now - toys, hanging objects, his feet, and anything in his reach basically. It's nice that he's more entertained by toys, it gives me a little break and it's just cute.
He also started rolling last week. It seemed like he was going to roll over from his back to tummy for a while now but he never did. Now he is just rolling from tummy to back. It's so fascinating how they go from this tiny, fragile, immobile thing that can barely keep their head up to rolling and wiggling around the place in just a few months!
I feel like I forgot a ton of things I wanted to write but I can't think of anything else right now. We love you Oliver, thanks for joining our family! I'll try to keep an updated monthly post.
At two months, he had his vaccinations. I keep telling myself it must have been a weird coincidence.. but after that he started crying really bad whenever he'd try to nurse and was starting to refuse to nurse actually. He also started spitting up way more and started waking up earlier to feed in the night than he normally did.
Within days it got worse. He was now barely nursing at all and waking up a few times at night. It was super frustrating and so sad to watch him struggle.
I took him back to the doctor. He said it was reflux and prescribed some baby zantac which of course I was so hesitant not to give to him. We gave it some time first, but after a couple of weeks I couldn't watch him suffer anymore. We started him on the meds. Two weeks into it and it still wasn't helping. So back to the doctor. They prescribed Prevacid. Stronger stuff.. hm, even more hesitant! But we tried it. We're over two weeks into this and it has improved his feedings. He is now nursing again without screaming! He still pulls on and off and seems like he's struggling a bit. Sometimes if I have a strong let down he seems to struggle more and cries but it's not nearly as bad as before.
He's sleeping a tiny bit better I'd say, and when I say that I mean he's still waking up several times in the night, but it's usually easier to get him back to sleep whereas before he would sometimes be up for a while crying.
It's hard though. Extremely tough on me and Derek physically and emotionally. He's basically sleeping with us all night now because I've gotten to the point of extreme exhaustion and most nights I can't even pull myself out of bed. So we put him to bed in his pack n play at bedtime (we put him and Noah down at the same time, around 8:00-9:00). He usually wakes up at least once before we even get to bed. Then he wakes up shortly after we fall asleep and I'm already exhausted so I just bring in the bed with me and nurse him. The he usually wakes up at least 3-4 more times. It's even more hard because he sleeps worse now than he did as a newborn (besides the first couple of days) and we did not go through this at all with Noah! By this point Noah was sleeping 9-10 hours every single night.
He also doesn't nap! It's extremely hard to get him to fall asleep and once he does he wakes up after sleeping 30 minutes. If I'm lucky, I can usually get him to fall back asleep for at least some of his naps. Then he'll sleep another 30 minutes and sometimes if I'm really lucky I can get him back to sleep for another 30 minutes. But most of his daytime sleeping is done in my arms or sometimes the carrier, and NEVER his crib. Oh Oliver, I think you're trying to kill me!
Oliver has been a light sleeper from the beginning though. I remember the first week he was born, every time he'd fall asleep I'd try to do some newborn pictures of him and he's instantly wake up and cry! He has never taken long naps, it was so weird! Noah would fall asleep and I'd have to practically dump a cup of water on him to wake him up so he would eat! Haha. It was SO different. Even now, Noah is a pretty deep sleeper and NEEDS his sleep.
We were so "by the book" with Noah and all about schedules, sleep training etc. But we found that in the end, Noah is two and we still struggle to get him to sleep and stay in his bed. And as a baby Noah had such a hard time sleeping anywhere BUT his crib. And people kept saying, you've trained him to sleep in his crib! So with Oliver, I thought, okay I want him to be able to sleep anywhere! So I planned on being much more relaxed and didn't worry about a schedule at first. But it's kind of backfired and now he will absolutely not sleep in his crib and cannot for the life of him fall asleep on his own. But honestly, even if I tried to do a schedule, it wouldn't work because his sleep is so inconsistent I couldn't figure out a schedule that would work for him. So it's just kind of a mess right now. We'll figure it out eventually! One day. Hopefully before he's one! This momma needs sleep! We're going to give the medicine a little longer and see if anything else improves. If nothing else improves, we might take him off of it and see what happens.
Anyway, a little more about Oliver. Besides not sleeping good anymore and struggling a bit with nursing, he is such a happy little guy! Honestly, before he hit two months (when all these problems got really bad), we were like wow, he is a lot easier and happier than Noah was! He smiles all the time! At everyone. It's so cute. Looking back I'm like, yeah Noah was pretty serious as a baby (he still is). He smiled but you had to work for it. Sometimes I just LOOK at Oliver and he starts smiling, haha. He's really such a little sweetie pie.
He seems super social and when someone is talking to me he usually ends up smiling at them. He laughs at the most random things sometimes. It seems like him, Noah and Derek all have the same sense of humor... when someone falls down or trips, or something falls, or something did something stupid. He loves to watch Noah.
He is turning more blonde which was not expected either. His older hair, the longer stuff in the back that he hasn't lost is more of a dark auburn color but all of his new hair coming in looks more like an ashy blonde. Sometimes he reminds me of my dad actually. The face that my dad makes in pictures, haha. But he also really looks like Derek lately. Some people say Elijah too, but I don't see that as much, maybe just because Elijah always had very dark eyes as a baby.
He is grabbing onto things now - toys, hanging objects, his feet, and anything in his reach basically. It's nice that he's more entertained by toys, it gives me a little break and it's just cute.
He also started rolling last week. It seemed like he was going to roll over from his back to tummy for a while now but he never did. Now he is just rolling from tummy to back. It's so fascinating how they go from this tiny, fragile, immobile thing that can barely keep their head up to rolling and wiggling around the place in just a few months!
I feel like I forgot a ton of things I wanted to write but I can't think of anything else right now. We love you Oliver, thanks for joining our family! I'll try to keep an updated monthly post.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Washington 2015
We took a short trip to Washington in August to visit Derek's brother Chris and his family. We left Thursday the 13th and were supposed to arrive at 7 pm I believe. But We our flight got delayed on our layover and we ended up arriving around midnight. Plus it takes almost an hour to drive from the airport to Chris and Nancy's house. So it was quite a late night for the boys.
Derek's dad came with us which was really nice. We got to spend 5 days straight with him! Noah just loves his Papa!
Friday we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall - Franklin Falls. It was raining that day but we decided to go anyway. I didn't care about getting wet, my only concern was my babies. Noah had a rain jacket but it was still a bit cold. He did great though. He was shivering towards the end since he was soaked. I was surprised how well Oliver did. I can't imagine what we was thinking, "what is this wet stuff falling from the sky and why is it so darn cold!?" We had him in the carrier, and he fell asleep on the way. The falls were very beautiful. We didn't stay too long at the falls since we were only getting colder, but it was worth the hike.
We went out to dinner at Red Robin and had a nice evening in together.
Saturday morning we had a little work out session (when I say we, I mean Chris, Nancy and the kids) at the park by their house. Then we spent a few hours downtown Gig Harbor. We rented some kayak's and paddle boards. To be honest, I was not too excited, and a little nervous. I've had some minor traumatizing experiences with water and with canoes that have left me a bit fearful of water activities. I just wasn't thrilled about it because I didn't think I'd enjoy it too much. Especially since I would be alone in my kayak.... boring. But after a bit I actually started to really love it! And I don't know why I thought we'd all separate, I caught up with everyone else and it was really fun. We even saw some seals just a few feet away from us. That was really, really cool! I love seeing wild animals.
Noah liked it too and Nancy stayed back to watch Oliver, so that was nice of her. I think I want to go kayaking more often now. It was actually relaxing. Michael said he'd even like to buy some for East Canyon.
I love Gig Harbor. It's such a cute little harbor town. So beautiful. And reminds me of Nova Scotia just a little!
That night we went on another little hike. This one wasn't as steep, and it wasn't raining, so an easier one for us. Chris took us to see a big piece of land in the forest that he dreams of buying and building a home on. As if their current house isn't beautiful enough - this would be so dreamy!
Sunday we went to church, came home and had lunch. Relaxed a bit. And spent the evening at the beach. We didn't go swimming, just hung out. The kids played in the sand. Noah was "Wreck-It Ralph" like always and smashing everything his cousins would make. They finally decided to build him a chair of sand to sit on and then wreck it! And he did, of course.
Monday Chris had to work and the kids had obligations so Derek, Michael, our boys and I spent the day in Seattle! Although, with travel time (we took the ferry) and kids, particularly a two month old and a two year old - it was more like a few hours actually sight seeing Seattle! Haha.
Our first stop was at Pike's Fish Market. I wish we could have spent more time there but it was a quick look and we walked on by. We headed to the Space Needle. That was cool. I liked the views.
We then had lunch and took a break to feed Oliver. After lunch we didn't have a ton of time left before we needed to head back to the ferry so we decided to take Noah to Seattle's Children's Museum. We only had less than an hour there but it was fun. It's cool to see children's museums in other cities.
We took the monorail back to Pike's Market. Noah fell asleep instantly on the ride. Which was unfortunate for him because we were on our way to see the famous Gum Wall. Noah LOVES gum. But he slept through it all, haha. We realized we didn't even have time to buy some gum so we found some hi-chews and stuck them on the wall!
We took the ferry back home and spent the evening raspberry picking with the Finch's. We had a beautiful sunset. I really enjoyed taking walks in their neighborhood - it has such a different feeling and completely different scenery than our neighborhood (Don't worry, we love Rose Park). But it truly is breathtaking. I would love to live there! Only if it didn't rain so much. However we were lucky on our trip, it only rained the first day.
Both plane rides (there and back) were smooth as far as kids and crying. We swaddled Oliver and he slept most of the plane rides - even though Seattle is close, we had layovers both ways. I was super worried about Oliver because just days before we left he started having reflux. More on that in his post. Noah did pretty well too. Every time we travel by plane, someone at the end of the flight always says, "He did so good!" or something along those lines. I think he does do pretty good, but I also think they're being kind. Which is appreciated.
We really, really, really enjoyed our trip to Washington! We LOVE spending time with that family, they are all such amazing people. I love how musically talented they all are. And I love how active the whole family is. I joked around saying, this is the first vacation that I think I actually lost weight rather than gained! We did so much walking and hiking, kayaking, and ate pretty healthy food. It was refreshing. The kids are also so smart, mature and polite. I just love everything about them. You can tell their parents are doing an excellent job.
I loved the feeling of their house. Not only do you feel the spirit there, but it's just so gorgeous! Inside and out. You look outside and just see HUGE trees! I couldn't get enough. I loved how peaceful and serene it was. As you're peeing in the bathroom... you look outside the big window and you feel like you're in a magical forest. It felt like I was in the movie, Twilight! Ah, it was great.
It was also a relatively inexpensive trip, which is really nice since we don't really have a vacation fund. We used our air miles for our flight, we didn't need a hotel or rental car. Basically Derek and his dad were fighting over who pays what the whole time. "I'll get this. No, I'LL get this." I think the most money we spent was on airport food!
We are definitely planning on going back soon. And this time we would love to try to go up to Vancouver while we're there since it's so close!
Adjusting to Two Kids: The First Few Weeks
BROTHERS//
Noah was so excited to meet his baby brother! He really, really loves babies! My family brought him to the hospital to meet Oliver the morning after he was born. He said he was "so cute" and liked meeting him. It was such a special moment for us.
Of course that excitement didn't last too long. After a little while he seemed to maybe be having some jealousy. There were a few weeks where he just seemed to be having a rough time, MAJOR tantrums and acting out, mental breakdowns (where he just cries for a long period of time for no reason). He usually does these things already but they were much more frequent and more intense. It was hard.
He also seemed a bit indifferent towards Oliver most of the time and then sometimes would be rough with him. He didn't want to hold him as much as I thought he would have. There were a handful of times where he caused baby some harm - including the time where he kicked him in the head after Oliver got out of the bath...... so sad!
However, I've noticed that the last little while (now in October) Noah has been really warming up to Oliver. He seems to want to cuddle with him and hold him more often. He likes to talk to him and comfort him. I think this will increase even more as Oliver gets older and more able to do things. Every time Oliver cries, Noah starts singing, "Hush little baby don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
EMOTIONS//
The dreaded baby blues hit me the second day home from the hospital. I felt sad. The first two nights with Oliver were exhausting and I think it hit me like, this is going to be so hard. It sucks to feel those feelings because you feel kind of guilty, like I should be so joyous right now, so why do I feel sad?! It's so annoying. I remember that day, Derek had to go somewhere - I can't remember where, but me and Noah were eating lunch together and I just started crying. It reminded me of all the special times we had together, just me and him. Every day, it was always just me and him, for the last two years. Something as simple as having lunch together just the two of us was suddenly so special to me. And now things would never be the same. Even though we loved Oliver, it was just different and it made me very emotional. It's funny though, looking back now, I remember those feelings but I don't feel that way anymore. It feels completely normal to have both Noah and Oliver home with me now. Those baby blues really only lasted a few days - and then I started to feel good. I think Noah is used to life with Oliver now too.
While at the hospital I didn't get to see Noah as much as I normally do, and once I came home I was with Oliver A LOT. So Derek and Noah were suddenly together all the time. Noah was already a bit of a daddy's boy but I think this really nailed that in. Derek was the one putting Noah down for bed each night. I remember one of the first few nights home, I just felt like I missed him. And all I wanted was to read him some books and put him to sleep. More tears.
I encapsulated my placenta, and started taking them about 4 or 5 days after I gave birth. I do feel like they helped me have more energy and helped my emotions get back to normal much faster.
ADJUSTING//
I think the hardest thing in the beginning was feeling bad for Noah. I spent so much time nursing Oliver and it was hard to not feel sorry for Noah. He was so bored and probably wondering why I was spending so much time with Oliver and not much time with him. Derek also started his LSAT prep class shortly after Ollie was born so Mon & Wed nights I was now by myself and it was very hard to do bedtime for Noah if Oliver needed me.
We slowly adjusted and I remember at one month post pardon already feeling like we were doing okay. Things were starting to get easier.
Noah was so excited to meet his baby brother! He really, really loves babies! My family brought him to the hospital to meet Oliver the morning after he was born. He said he was "so cute" and liked meeting him. It was such a special moment for us.
Of course that excitement didn't last too long. After a little while he seemed to maybe be having some jealousy. There were a few weeks where he just seemed to be having a rough time, MAJOR tantrums and acting out, mental breakdowns (where he just cries for a long period of time for no reason). He usually does these things already but they were much more frequent and more intense. It was hard.
He also seemed a bit indifferent towards Oliver most of the time and then sometimes would be rough with him. He didn't want to hold him as much as I thought he would have. There were a handful of times where he caused baby some harm - including the time where he kicked him in the head after Oliver got out of the bath...... so sad!
However, I've noticed that the last little while (now in October) Noah has been really warming up to Oliver. He seems to want to cuddle with him and hold him more often. He likes to talk to him and comfort him. I think this will increase even more as Oliver gets older and more able to do things. Every time Oliver cries, Noah starts singing, "Hush little baby don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
EMOTIONS//
The dreaded baby blues hit me the second day home from the hospital. I felt sad. The first two nights with Oliver were exhausting and I think it hit me like, this is going to be so hard. It sucks to feel those feelings because you feel kind of guilty, like I should be so joyous right now, so why do I feel sad?! It's so annoying. I remember that day, Derek had to go somewhere - I can't remember where, but me and Noah were eating lunch together and I just started crying. It reminded me of all the special times we had together, just me and him. Every day, it was always just me and him, for the last two years. Something as simple as having lunch together just the two of us was suddenly so special to me. And now things would never be the same. Even though we loved Oliver, it was just different and it made me very emotional. It's funny though, looking back now, I remember those feelings but I don't feel that way anymore. It feels completely normal to have both Noah and Oliver home with me now. Those baby blues really only lasted a few days - and then I started to feel good. I think Noah is used to life with Oliver now too.
While at the hospital I didn't get to see Noah as much as I normally do, and once I came home I was with Oliver A LOT. So Derek and Noah were suddenly together all the time. Noah was already a bit of a daddy's boy but I think this really nailed that in. Derek was the one putting Noah down for bed each night. I remember one of the first few nights home, I just felt like I missed him. And all I wanted was to read him some books and put him to sleep. More tears.
I encapsulated my placenta, and started taking them about 4 or 5 days after I gave birth. I do feel like they helped me have more energy and helped my emotions get back to normal much faster.
ADJUSTING//
I think the hardest thing in the beginning was feeling bad for Noah. I spent so much time nursing Oliver and it was hard to not feel sorry for Noah. He was so bored and probably wondering why I was spending so much time with Oliver and not much time with him. Derek also started his LSAT prep class shortly after Ollie was born so Mon & Wed nights I was now by myself and it was very hard to do bedtime for Noah if Oliver needed me.
We slowly adjusted and I remember at one month post pardon already feeling like we were doing okay. Things were starting to get easier.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)