Happy Turkey Day!
I haven't really been in the blogging mood recently, but I figured I better get some things written down before
A. I forget
B. The holidays come and there is so much to write I feel overwhelmed
I'm not sure why I haven't been in the blogging mood.. there has been so much to document! Lots of milestones have been met in the past month and a half, especially for Owen. Let's start with him this time.
Owen 6 months 17lbs 4.5oz
Owen is now mobile. He started sitting up on his own and crawling at 5 1/2 month (on the same day)!! Yikes I was NOT ready for two mobile kids. Olivia sat up for awhile before she crawled so I was in shock when those things both happened on the same day. I am back to having to sweep daily because he is moving from room to room now and putting everything in his mouth of course. Today he got the paper to a crayon. (Olivia immediately pulls the paper off every crayon for some reason) On top of that he has officially as of today two teeth. I keep hoping this means he will start sleeping better at night, but I'm not holding my breath. His sleeping habits right now consist of to bed around 8:30 or 9:00, up at 11:25, up between 2 and 3 and up at 5:45 then up for the morning around 8:00. I have been trying to limit my feeding of him to the 2am and the 5:45, but lately he wants to eat at 11:45 too. He just gets so mad and even if he goes back to sleep if I haven't fed him then he is up a half and hour later anyways. It just isn't worth a battle at this point. Owen has also started eating solid foods.. some he has tried.. rice cereal, peas, carrots, green beans, butternut squash. He wasn't really a fan of the green beans, but everything else he seems to like. He really just wants whatever you are eating and crawls FAST to get it. We have had a Owen attack on Olivia's eggs and toast and another attack on Sam and my wings. :) Here are some other fun facts about Owen.
Likes:
to be with mommy and to be carried
his sister making him laugh
when I smell he feet and say "shoo!" (this was a laughing fit that me laugh so hard I cried!)
Baby Mum Mums
waking up in the morning (I know when he is ready to be up for good because he wakes up so happy then.)
pulling hair
paci
Dislikes:
Being left alone in a room
green beans
not being fed when he wakes up at night
getting his nose wiped or sucked
Favorite Owen moments:
*when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning he peers his eyes over the edge of his bumper in the crib and it is just so gosh darn cute. I play peek a boo with him and he thinks it is so funny!
Playing our good morning peek-a-boo game
Look mommy I can pull up too!
*taking a nap together on the couch
*watching him play with his sister
Olivia (21 months)
Olivia has hit some milestones too. She now has all her baby teeth. She also has started Operation Phase out Paci. This is a huge step because she is pretty attached to her pacifier. Step one is just to limit her paci to her bed and the car. She has done pretty well with this. We catch her sometimes hiding out with one she has stolen from Owen or her secret stash around the house.
Olivia is also talking up a storm and absorbing everything she sees and hears. It amazes me sometimes the things she knows. She is talking up a storm in full sentences and about 70% intelligibility. Funny story, in church on Sunday she was talking the nursery workers and they were amazed at the clarity of her speech. She was telling them "I want music" "I want to play" etc. Well one of the nursery workers asked the other one if they knew how old she was and Olivia answered "20 month". Clear as day. They asked if I had taught her that and I had not. I guess she just picked up on it, but how funny is that! 20 months. ha! (She is a month off though.. I wont tell her.) She knows her animals, some letters, some counting (I think she has counting to three down since she hears me count to three with her about a hundred times a day.) Our biggest struggle with her is behavior. She just does not listen yet or follow much direction. Things like drumsticks have to be hidden because she is still in this hitting phase too. We try and be consistent with time outs, but she gets up a lot and sometimes I just can't keep on it with Owen needing my attention or fed or cared for, so she gets put in her crib for a time out. I really would rather not use that for discipline, but at times I just have no choice. I swapped a book Toddlerwise that a friend recommended so I hope that helps me with some consistent approaches with her. Another struggle with her is independent playing. She really requires me to be playing with her a lot. There are days she does better than others, but some days it is full on melt down if I have other things to do around the house or have to take care of Owen "put Owa down Mommy" and can't play with her. I enjoy playing with her, especially now that we can branch out from some of the "baby" toys and do things like color or play pretend kitchen. One final milestone is Olivia has begun potty training. When I say begun I mean if she requests it we take her there and let her try and if she does she gets candy corn. She asks maybe once a day, usually because she wants candy corn.
Some things about Olivia
Likes:
coloring
bath/shower time
running- She has the funniest, cutest little run ever! You should see her butt wiggle!
mac and cheese "Bawee I love mac and cheese"
Hats
candy corn
breakfast
pretending to sleep- this is a daily game
Olivia tooting on the toilet and telling Sam that she pooped and wanted candy corn! (if this is TMI sorry.. but it is too cute not to write down and remember)
Olivia <3's Bathtime "go swimming"
Dislikes:
getting ready to go anywhere- its a long process to get her dressed and out of the house because she runs away from you after each step of the process
getting her paci taken away
having to play by herself
having to eat anything besides whatever she likes best on the plate
We seem to be settling into a routine over here and the craziness of the summer has subsided a little bit. I don't really know how the people out there who have clean houses and their kids are always dressed nicely and they are always dressed nicely and they are on time to everything do it. As I was packing the kids in the car today to go out I realized Olivia had Owen's paci and Owen had Olivia's paci and Owen's socks didn't match at all and I was sure I had forgotten something critical. Oh well..
