7-3-11 Ben is talking so much and is such a big boy! In the last few weeks, he's decided that he doesn't sleep in a crib anymore. He sleeps in the "other bed", the bed in the guest bedroom. He sleeps in the middle with pillows on either side of him, and early on with Daddy one side of him. He won't settle down and go to sleep with any less than 4 stories read to him, usually 2 from his "Nursery Tales" and 2 from his "Farm Tales" books. He loves Farmer Jones, Farmer Brown, the Drummer Boy as well as Three Little Pigs, Three Bears, Jack and Beanstalk, Gingerbread Man, and Little Red Riding Hood. His class spent the month of May learning nursery rhymes and fairy tales and since then he's been obsessed with many of the stories. He is especially interested in the "Big Bad Wolf"and pretends that the "big bad wolf comin". This morning we looked out the front windows and the front door, looking for the wolf. I've told him that the wolf can't blow our house down, but he still seems to worry about what the wolf could do if we encounter him.
Ben woke up yesterday morning and told me he had diaper rash. Luckily he didn't, but he must have remembered me explaining to him that he had diaper rash a few weeks ago. Usually when he wakes up, he either wants to see "baby" or wants to "go downstairs". He loves to play in the morning, which is tough during the week since we're rushing around trying to get ready for work. He likes to get a bag, usually either a gift bag or grocery bag, and say he's either going shopping or to a birthday party. And he always wants company...so that means I need to have a bag too and we put food from the pantry in the bags and then head out, either to the car or to the porch.
Rebecca just started sitting up without any help in the past week or so. She's also really started to have an interest in various baby toys, including the large soft block with animal pictures, the soft giraffe, her Sophie giraffe, and just about anything else you put in front of her. She's been rolling over for a while and now she seems to be able to move around a little bit by rolling and rotating on her tummy. She's just now able to play for a few minutes on her own without fussing for someone to be there with her. Before, she was only satisfied to be by herself if she was under the play gym.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Rebecca's recent milestones July 2011
It's July and Rebecca is finally sleeping through the night! She has slept throught the night one night at a time here and there, but has consistently slept for 10 hours at a time for the last week or two. I have even been able to put her down in her crib still awake and she is able to settle herself down to sleep. She may cry for a few seconds or minutes, but not long before she's settled down.
Rebecca is also sitting up very well on her own now. She started sitting up on a blanket on the floor around the beginning of July. I've stopped putting her in the seat in the morning while I shower, but instead she is content to sit on a blanket in my bedroom and play with a few toys. She'll also sit on her blanket in the family room and play with toys in the mornings for several minutes, perfectly content. She may fall forward and end up on her tummy, but often times she will lay in the position for a while before getting upset. Her brother usually takes that opportunity to straddle her like he's riding a horse. Surprisingly, she doesn't seem to mind it.
Rebecca's bottom two teeth are also coming in, starting to break through her gums about 2-3 weeks ago. Ms Annette said she was fussy one day when they were first breaking through, but after that she hasn't seemed bothered.
Rebecca is also sitting up very well on her own now. She started sitting up on a blanket on the floor around the beginning of July. I've stopped putting her in the seat in the morning while I shower, but instead she is content to sit on a blanket in my bedroom and play with a few toys. She'll also sit on her blanket in the family room and play with toys in the mornings for several minutes, perfectly content. She may fall forward and end up on her tummy, but often times she will lay in the position for a while before getting upset. Her brother usually takes that opportunity to straddle her like he's riding a horse. Surprisingly, she doesn't seem to mind it.
Rebecca's bottom two teeth are also coming in, starting to break through her gums about 2-3 weeks ago. Ms Annette said she was fussy one day when they were first breaking through, but after that she hasn't seemed bothered.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Ben is talking so much, and is such a sweet darling boy. He stills enjoys playing with his trucks, and most times his play consists of lining them up on the living room window sill and then loading them back into his dump truck, jack o lantern or Rebecca's pink easter basket. He'll do the same with his animals, and usually rotates between the two from day to day. Some mornings the first thing Ben utters when Daddy or I get him out of his crib is "trucks!".
He also recently started getting a shopping bag out of the pantry and filling it with food like boxes of pasta noodles as if he's shopping at the grocery store. Then he announces that we need to "go home" from the store with our filled bags. If I let him, I tihnk he'd walk out to the van and pretend we are driving home with our load.
Ben also likes to play "birthday" party, but I'm not sure exactly what the inspiration was, outside of his own birthday party in April. One day, we brought one of his helium balloons that was still inflated and a cupcake, along with a bag of either toys or food, out to the porch, where he enjoyed a "birthday party" and we sang "Happy Birthday" to just about everyone we know.
He also recently started getting a shopping bag out of the pantry and filling it with food like boxes of pasta noodles as if he's shopping at the grocery store. Then he announces that we need to "go home" from the store with our filled bags. If I let him, I tihnk he'd walk out to the van and pretend we are driving home with our load.
Ben also likes to play "birthday" party, but I'm not sure exactly what the inspiration was, outside of his own birthday party in April. One day, we brought one of his helium balloons that was still inflated and a cupcake, along with a bag of either toys or food, out to the porch, where he enjoyed a "birthday party" and we sang "Happy Birthday" to just about everyone we know.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Rebecca sleeping so much better - 6-13-11
Rebecca is doing so much better getting to sleep, I think we've finally turned the corner! I was so worried about her because I was going to celebrate Wendy's 40th birthday and would be away for up to 2 nights. But by a wonderful stroke of luck, or divine intervention, Rebecca fell asleep on her own Thursday night, lying on her stomach with her thumb in her mouth. She slept in the same position from 11 am to after 6 am. I checked on her once or twice during the night to find her sleeping peacefully! That made me feel so much better about being away. Up until then, Rebecca was having a hard time falling asleep on her own, often waking up when I tried to lay her in the crib, unless she was soundly sleeping later at night. She spent alot of evenings sleeping in the boppy in the family room and alot of very early mornings sleeping in bed with Mommy. For the last couple of months, she was waking up every 2-3 hours. She slept through the night Friday night for Daddy and Grandma Marla, who'd come to visit and help babysit. She woke up at 2am and 4am on Saturday night, but fell back asleep each time after having a bottle. I got home Sunday around noon, and put Rebecca down in her crib around 1:30 for a nap, pleasantly surprised to see her settle down in her crib, sucking her thumb, for an over 2 hour nap!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Rebecca's first month and a new harness
At Rebecca's 1 month check up on Mon Jan 3, the pediatrician suspected that she may have hip dysplasia and referred us to an orthopaedic doctor who we saw a few days later on that Thursday where it was confirmed that he had it and where she was outfitted in a Pavlik harness to stablize her hip in the right place. She must wear the harness 24 hours a day. We went to see Dr Tuten, a different orthopaedic doctor, on Monday Jan 8, who specializes in pediatric orthopaedics and who we're much happier with. He expects Rebecca to stay in the harness for 6 weeks instead of 10, which is great news. Rebecca doesn't seem bothered at all by the harness and it really is only an inconvenience for me since I can't take it off to bathe her and it makes her clothing options limited. We've found a few outfits that are 1-2 sizes up that fit her nicely though. I can still hold and cuddle with her fairly easily.
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| Rebecca in happy in her harness |
Rebecca's first month has been less than consistent when it comes to her sleeping patterns. However, the last few nights she has slept soundly from 10 or 11 pm to around 3 am. She still has some trouble settling down to sleep after that middle of the night feeding, and often times spends the rest of the night in the bed with me, if Daddy is down sleeping on the sofa, making sure he is better rested for work the next day. She settles down so much better sleeping beside me than she does when I try to put her back in the bassinet. She might be asleep in my arms, but shortly after I put her in the bassinet, she starts stirring and awakens. She does not have a consistent napping schedule during the day yet. She slept long stints at a time the first couple of weeks but has started taking shorter naps with more awake time the older she gets. She also is more easily awaken. Her first few weeks she probably could have slept through a train coming through the house.
Ben - Feb 27, 2011
Ben got his first haircut today! He and I looked at pictures of the hair studio online on Friday, with the hopes getting him excited about sitting in one of the car shaped chairs. He cried when we sat him in the police car though and when the stylist sprayed his hair with water. Once she offerred him a lollipop though, he was much better, sucking on it throughout his cut and getting it replaced with a new one when he complained that hair had gotten on it. Ben's hair had gotten pretty long, but it got cut pretty short, with the stylist even using the clippers to shave the nape of his neck. His new short cut looked so cute on him. Daddy said he wished we'd gotten it cut much earlier. I thought he looked cute with his longer hair too though!
Lara came to visit at lunch, bringing chick filet chicken and fries for Ben. He loved dipping the fries in the polynesian sauce. He whispered to Lara to request a sip of her Dr Pepper, later asking for "more" in a whisper, Lara thought his whispers were an attempt to keep me from hearing, which may be true!
Allie and Henry came over in the afternoon after nap, and Ben seems to love having them at the house. He gave them lots of hugs throughout the afternoon.
Ben has started saying the word "heavy" once he picks things up, even for things that really shouldn't be that heavy for him. This evening he described his puzzles that he picked up to carry from the family room to the mud room as "heavy". He wanted to play with them with me in the mud room for some reason. He and I played with his blocks in the mud room and then with most of his puzzles, one by one. He and I were playing with his blocks when he said "puzzle" and we walked into the family room and he said "animals", but the first puzzle he chose was his vehicle puzzle, eventually getting to each of his animal puzzles. After we finished with all but his house puzzle, he sat on my lap on the family room floor while we read several stories out of the "Farm Tales" book that was Allie and Henry's. When we used to look at that book, it was just to look for "woof woof" pictures, but he pulled it out again this weekend and was interested in hearing all of the stories. He sat through at least 4 of them at a time. For the story where the animals are wondering where Farmer Brown is, Ben yells out "there he is" once we get to the page which shows Farmer Brown on his tractor. Daddy then took Ben upstairs where they read books in "Daddy bed", probably Good Night Moon, which has become somewhat of a ritual. And somehow Ben took Mommy's favorite pillow to his crib with him.
Lara came to visit at lunch, bringing chick filet chicken and fries for Ben. He loved dipping the fries in the polynesian sauce. He whispered to Lara to request a sip of her Dr Pepper, later asking for "more" in a whisper, Lara thought his whispers were an attempt to keep me from hearing, which may be true!
Allie and Henry came over in the afternoon after nap, and Ben seems to love having them at the house. He gave them lots of hugs throughout the afternoon.
Ben has started saying the word "heavy" once he picks things up, even for things that really shouldn't be that heavy for him. This evening he described his puzzles that he picked up to carry from the family room to the mud room as "heavy". He wanted to play with them with me in the mud room for some reason. He and I played with his blocks in the mud room and then with most of his puzzles, one by one. He and I were playing with his blocks when he said "puzzle" and we walked into the family room and he said "animals", but the first puzzle he chose was his vehicle puzzle, eventually getting to each of his animal puzzles. After we finished with all but his house puzzle, he sat on my lap on the family room floor while we read several stories out of the "Farm Tales" book that was Allie and Henry's. When we used to look at that book, it was just to look for "woof woof" pictures, but he pulled it out again this weekend and was interested in hearing all of the stories. He sat through at least 4 of them at a time. For the story where the animals are wondering where Farmer Brown is, Ben yells out "there he is" once we get to the page which shows Farmer Brown on his tractor. Daddy then took Ben upstairs where they read books in "Daddy bed", probably Good Night Moon, which has become somewhat of a ritual. And somehow Ben took Mommy's favorite pillow to his crib with him.
Ben - Jan & Feb 2011
Ben continues to be such a joy. There are so many things he does that delight Mommy and Daddy. I'll attempt to document many of them.
Daddy bought Ben toy animal figures at the zoo last June, which he still plays with now. In the set are an elephant, lion, giraffe, cheetah, zebra, hippo, and warthog. Ben had one of the animals out which I referred to as his "warthog" to which Ben replied "no", one of his favorite words by the way. Then I noticed he had said "no" because it was actually the hippo that he had. That was the first time Ben corrected Mommy, but I'm sure not nearly the last!
Ben is pretty good about wearing his hat when he's outside, usually wearing the red felt Old Navy hat of Pierce and Davis' that Robin gave him . It's been a cold winter, so I have also been wearing a stocking cap when I go to pick Ben up in the afternoons. Ben insists on wearing my hat as we leave school, by saying "Mommy's", indicating that he wants to wear my hat and wants me to wear his. So most days, we walk out of school in eachother's hats. He looks especially cute with an oversized hat on where I just look ridiculous with a hat on that is too small. The teachers think it is very cute though. Ben also likes to wear Daddy's stocking cap when he gets the chance.
Ben is also repeating several words that Daddy or I say, including "ready", "nuts", and "pizza" to name a few. His language skills are improving so rapidly.
Ben loves to have his snacks in a bowl and when he sees a snack that he would like he says "bowl" to indicate that he'd like to have a bowl to put some in, whether it be crackers, fruit, or candy. He also now knows which cabinet to go open and retrieve one of his small plastic snack bowls.
Ben enjoys pulling the tissues out of the tissue box, never stopping at just one. He also asks for a tissue by name when his nose is running and can wipe his nose himself.
When Ben has a snack, he will often "share" it with his toys, feeding his trucks, especially those that have a smiling face on their grill. Just lately he has started enjoying having his zoo and farm animals on his highchair tray with him, sharing his food with a few of his favorites.
Ben grabs at the computer screen, tv, or pictures of trucks, seemingly thinking that he can pull them off of the screen or page and play with them, sometimes saying "want some".
Ben consistently refers to the small "Incredible Hulk" toy he got out of a happy meal as "Daddy".
Ben has started showing a preference for the clothes he wears. When I opened the middle drawer of his dresser, which was low enough for him to have a great view of the contents, he pulled out which shirt he wanted to wear. First he pulled out his Caillou shirt and then changed his mind when he saw his moose shirt, indicating that he wanted to wear it instead.
Ben has started saying the word "heavy" once he picks things up, even for things that really shouldn't be that heavy for him.
Daddy bought Ben toy animal figures at the zoo last June, which he still plays with now. In the set are an elephant, lion, giraffe, cheetah, zebra, hippo, and warthog. Ben had one of the animals out which I referred to as his "warthog" to which Ben replied "no", one of his favorite words by the way. Then I noticed he had said "no" because it was actually the hippo that he had. That was the first time Ben corrected Mommy, but I'm sure not nearly the last!
Ben is pretty good about wearing his hat when he's outside, usually wearing the red felt Old Navy hat of Pierce and Davis' that Robin gave him . It's been a cold winter, so I have also been wearing a stocking cap when I go to pick Ben up in the afternoons. Ben insists on wearing my hat as we leave school, by saying "Mommy's", indicating that he wants to wear my hat and wants me to wear his. So most days, we walk out of school in eachother's hats. He looks especially cute with an oversized hat on where I just look ridiculous with a hat on that is too small. The teachers think it is very cute though. Ben also likes to wear Daddy's stocking cap when he gets the chance.
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| Ben wearing Daddy's hat on the way to school. Notice Ben's usual red hat in Daddy's hands. |
Ben loves to have his snacks in a bowl and when he sees a snack that he would like he says "bowl" to indicate that he'd like to have a bowl to put some in, whether it be crackers, fruit, or candy. He also now knows which cabinet to go open and retrieve one of his small plastic snack bowls.
Ben enjoys pulling the tissues out of the tissue box, never stopping at just one. He also asks for a tissue by name when his nose is running and can wipe his nose himself.
When Ben has a snack, he will often "share" it with his toys, feeding his trucks, especially those that have a smiling face on their grill. Just lately he has started enjoying having his zoo and farm animals on his highchair tray with him, sharing his food with a few of his favorites.
Ben grabs at the computer screen, tv, or pictures of trucks, seemingly thinking that he can pull them off of the screen or page and play with them, sometimes saying "want some".
Ben consistently refers to the small "Incredible Hulk" toy he got out of a happy meal as "Daddy".
Ben has started showing a preference for the clothes he wears. When I opened the middle drawer of his dresser, which was low enough for him to have a great view of the contents, he pulled out which shirt he wanted to wear. First he pulled out his Caillou shirt and then changed his mind when he saw his moose shirt, indicating that he wanted to wear it instead.
Ben has started saying the word "heavy" once he picks things up, even for things that really shouldn't be that heavy for him.
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