Weekly pictures 6/21 to 6/27

Watching tv together

We visited a few breweries; Cottrell Brewing in Pawcatuck, CT and Grey Sail in Westerly, RI. Then we went out to eat in Westerly and checked out a local park after that. They were having a concert but it was going to be past Neil's bedtime so we didn't end up sticking around that late.

Nathan is in the tula with me

Statue in the park

Daddy showing Neil how to grill

Nathan wants in on the action!

Swaddle escapee

Neil and I went to the Mystic Aquarium together

Date night- sunset in RI

Can you guess who picked the outfit? (Rain jacket and construction hat on top)

Weekly pictures 6/14 to 6/20

We filled sugar cones with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and fruits, and threw them on the drill.
Yummy and messy.

Brotherly love

We went down the slide together

Sleepy time (pretty sure I'm not sleeping though)

He's such a ham.

Reading together at night

2 and a half years

I missed posting last month (and this is now a month late, he turned 2 and a half on July 29th) so I'm going to talk about the past two months, although at this point Neil doesn't change so quickly that I think it makes a huge difference. With that said, though, wow, some days I just look at him and can't believe how BIG and GROWN UP he is. Seriously. Where did my little baby go?! I think having Nathan around just makes it that much more obvious.

Neil is really talking a lot better. He's always been good but now he's getting more distinct and he's definitely learning to communicate more by talking. I'm working with him on taking some deep breaths when he gets upset or mad. Part of doing that is when I get upset I'm telling him upset and saying "Mommy is going to take deep breaths right now to relax and calm down." Then I physically take deep breaths so he can see and hear and have him do it as well if he's upset. He still has the temper tantrums and there are still times I literally just have to walk away but it's getting better.

What's getting worse though? The independence. He wants things his own way. Now he picks out his clothes (by his choice and demand) and it's funny- it's not about what he wants, it's about something different than what we choose. What do I mean by that? Here's an example. If I pick a shirt for him to wear, he will say no. I'll ask what he wants to wear, and he'll literally reach his hand into the shirt drawer in his dresser and pick out the first thing his hand comes to. So clearly he doesn't care what he picked out. It's more about the fact that he chose it. I think we're in for some fun times as this develops more. I think this is what people talk about with 3 year olds.

We went through a regression with sleep- he is getting up at night multiple times instead of staying in bed. I seriously just want to throw him in the crib and say STAY THERE. When he did this before, we had to take him back to bed. But this time, at times. I can just say go back to bed, and he does. We still have the Ok to Wake clock thing but it doesn't help for going to sleep. I feel guilty at times, too, because there have been a few times he has needed a diaper change (pooped in his diaper) so he's had a legitimate reason to get out of bed. I'm trying to find a happy medium where somehow we get him to realize he has to stay in bed unless he really needs something, like a diaper change, he's sick, etc.

So no we are still not potty trained. We do have him at pull ups. We have diapers and think pull ups are a huge pain when he poops so at home we use diapers. But I don't think I'm going to order anymore. Note to anyone else- Huggies seems better than Pampers. It has velcro so you can undo it and redo it. So for now though he only has pull ups at daycare but we'll transition that when we finish the diapers he has.

Routine wise, we start bedtime at 7. It's bath as necessary, change diaper/clothes, brush teeth, read some books (usually with Nathan), then bed. We have the okay to wake clock set to wake up at 6:20 but most morning he's already up. Generally he does stay in bed until it turns green but if he hears us up and around he gets up before his clock turns green (indicating he can get out of bed).

Neil still loves to read and seems to be developing some friendships. He also loves his brother, tries to play with his toys (including sitting in his bouncer, which gets him yelled at big time). He loves dancing and when music is playing you can usually see him at least bopping along to the music, but most of the time he is really dancing. I love how inhibited he is at this point.

We are insisting on a high chair at restaurants, and since we do it regularly he seems resigned to it.

Neil also transitioned up at daycare to the next age room and that seems to be really good for him. He was ready to be with older kids. They're still around his age but they communicate verbally a lot better and he's learning new things. His new thing is that he wants to go to Hawaii. Hey, I'm all for that!

We are working on dealing with emotions- I want to buy some books that discuss different emotions. I started asking him how he feels, which he doesn't know how to answer, and found a youtube video that talks about taking deep breaths. So now when Neil gets upset I ask him to take a deep breath. He actual will do it and it seems to work!

Clothing: We are starting to use 3T shirts and pajamas. Some of the 2T pajamas are so tight on him! But at the same time he's still wearing 18 month shorts and pants. It's crazy. 2T pants still fall down on him.
Diapers: Size 5 (same as last month), and pull ups
Shoes: Size 7 (same as last month)
Weight: 29.5 pounds
Height: 36.75 inches

Five Months

I keep thinking I'll catch up but so far since returning to work I just haven't been able to. I'm trying to keep at least the monthly posts going though!

Playing around before taking the monthly pictures

Nathan is more active, and reaching to grab things. He loves chewing on things and grabbing his feet. He also will just grab at anything including hair. Neil HATES that. He grabs his hair back and we try to explain that Nathan doesn't realize he's hurting anyone when he grabs. And boy does he have a grip. When he grabs my hair it's hard to get him to let go.

Grabbing his feet!

Sleep has been just awful. I looked at my notes and Nathan did much better when I first went back to work around 3 months. Since he hit what I thought might be the 4 month regression at about 3 and a half months, he tends to only sleep in 2-3 hour chunks and this is just wearing on me. So just last night we are starting to let him cry. My only hesitation is whether or not he's hungry. I think he might need to eat once at night. I can usually tell if he ate because he will nurse really well for about 10 minutes and then zonk out and go in the crib really easily. When he isn't really eating, he doesn't really eat, kinda dozes off every so often, and it can take me easily an hour to get him back into his crib and asleep. Also, there have been times Dave has given him a bottle and he just doesn't want it.

With the crying, we are talking to him and explaining that it's bedtime, time to sleep. Then Dave goes in at intervals if he continues to cry. We've only done this one night so far and I wonder if me sometimes nursing, sometimes not, is going to just confuse him. But honestly it needs to be done for my sanity (and Dave's too I think). The sleep deprivation is just killing me at this point. I am having a lot of trouble focusing and just in general thinking, memorizing, etc. I don't even catch up on weekends because Neil is up bright and early.

Daycare is still going well- they tell me what a great sleeper and happy kid he is. And he is really happy around us too. He loves to play peek a boo, definitely knows his name, and I think knows who mommy, daddy, and Neil are. At daycare they say he's not really on a schedule but in a routine depending on when he gets up for the day (which is still not consistent). He sleeps, then wakes up, diaper change, eats, then plays for a bit, and then sleeps. At daycare he eats every 2-3 hours or so. They say it varies but is consistent each day. So, for example, if he seems more hungry than usually he consistently eats every 2 hours on one day but the next he consistently eats every 3 hours.

Nathan has discovered more sounds and says the "h" and "m" for sure. I need to pay more attention but he babbles quite a bit. I think we have another chatterbox on our hands!

We are still messing with the bedtime routine in attempts to get him to sleep longer at night and also because sometimes he just won't go down at night and I need to get to sleep since I get up early. Generally though we change both Neil and Nathan into pajamas at the same time, then read books to Neil and whoever is not reading holds Nathan and lets him watch as much as he wants to. Neil goes to bed, and I walk downstairs and nurse Nathan. He always falls asleep. We put him in the crib after he's asleep. Sometimes he wakes up pretty quickly after that; other times he sleeps for a few hours. (Yes this means I do not get any time to myself yet. I try to go to bed most nights when I put him in the crib the first time and if he wakes up I nurse him in bed and get him back in the crib again.)

Nathan still doesn't seem to want the wubbanub. He prefers to sleep with a blanket but he pulls it over his head so I don't want him to have that in his crib overnight. It's ok at daycare where someone is watching. So I'm also trying to figure out what I can give him or do to give him some comfort. (We've tried things that smell like me.) It seems like what he really wants is something up against his face.

Even with all the sleep troubles though, he definitely can go to sleep on his own and does. He seems to do that more during the day and when he wakes up from naps even at home during the day, he doesn't cry. I walk in and he's awake just content. For some reason at night though when he wakes up he does seem to cry. I would think it would be the opposite since it's dark at night, which should signal sleepiness.

Nursing and pumping are going well. Nathan still gets 3 5oz bottles at daycare. I actually pump more than that so I'm continuing to build a freezer stash and have donated some milk to another mom in need. Nathan is still distracted nursing so sometimes I walk away to nurse him in peace and quiet. He likes to look up at me as he nurses, and of course grab my hair. :)

Nathan still likes to stand and loves both his jumper and exersaucer. He also really loves his brother and will smile at Neil pretty easily most of the time (which really makes Neil happy as well). I am also experimenting with letting him "sit" on his own. He doesn't sit up straight but leans forward and bit and eventually ends up laying on the floor but he does seem to like it. Part of the problem is that he is fascinated with his feet so he's leaning forward to grab them with his hands.

I already talked about myself and sleep deprivation. On a more positive note, I am definitely below pre-pregnancy weight before both kids. (Actually I'm 4 pounds above my overall goal weight, which I haven't been able to achieve as long as I have really weighed myself consistently and tracked it.) My pants are falling down. I am going to pull out my pre-pregnancy work pants again and hopefully they will work. I'll be surprised if they don't at this point. I think weight is still distributed a bit differently, and I'd like to get back into some kind of exercise because it also helps me mentally. Work is good- the job change has been interesting to coincide with pregnancy and having a baby. Hormones have been pretty hard to deal with but for the most part I'm able to keep it in check while at work. I do miss having friends around but I know that will come with time as well. But I am definitely getting more comfortable at work, getting to know people better, etc. The job itself is something I do like to do and get excited about and that's always a good thing or it can make getting up every day hard.

Clothing: 3-6 months in most closthes, 6 months in Carter's brand. We aren't putting him in pants or shorts really- sometimes the one piece outfits.
Diapers: Size 2
Shoes: None yet
Weight: I weighed him at about 16 pounds.
Height: I do not measure this until I can get them to stand. No doctor's visit so no height.

Weekly pictures 6/7 to 6/13

This was my last week of maternity leave and I was trying to make sure I took huge advantage.

We can't stand the Patriots but Dave's family gave us this,
so we were trying to get pictures of Neil crying in it. 

Driving to meet my sister-in-law and father-in-law in MA

We went to a bounce house area type thing and Neil loved it. So did we. It was beautiful out so it was pretty much just us in there. About to jump on daddy.

Aw so sweet

Neil was actually climbing

We wanted a 3 generation picture and had a hard time getting all 4 looking

It's been awhile since we've had a drum shot, hasn't it?

So Google did this but to me in these pictures he looked like a real drummer, the way he held himself.

Using a real cup

Neil loves to tell Nathan how to do things, already

Rocky Neck State Beach during the week

Painting, a day off daycare (after we went to the beach together)

Fun with the water table in the backyard

Nathan held his head up fairly well

This is a state park near us, that is just beautiful and has a walking/running trail that's over 3 miles long.

We went strawberry picking. It was super crowded but we had fun anyways. It was also really hot.
I had Nathan in the Tula most of the time.

After strawberry picking we realized there was a brewery closeby so we went there. Stubborn Beauty.
We really liked their beer.

They had some stuff for their daughters and let Neil play with it. That was really nice!

Drinking some samples

Playing drums with a neighborhood kid at the park