Micah at 2 Years Old

2 Year Check Up:
Weight: 27.7lbs 50%
Height: (I can't remember the inches) 50%
HC: 49cm 50% (The doctor made a comment about him growing into his head. Haha.)

All of the questions asked concerning development raised no red flags for autism. Micah is ahead in his verbal and cognitive development. Dr. Macias was impressed that he can already count with little assistance to 10 and knows at least 2 colors and can recognize almost all of the upper case letters in the alphabet. He's also impressed that he's been saying 7 word sentences pretty consistently. He said a 3 word sentence is usually a sign of a 200 word vocabulary so Micah has obviously exceeded that. I just pointed to his big brother as the attributing factor because as much as I would LOVE to take credit for giving Micah one-on-one attention in that area it doesn't always happen.

Potty Training

Micah shows an interest in potty training every once in awhile, but it's definitely on his terms. He has gone pee several times in the potty and poop only twice, but he has to sit there a looooong time. I'm okay with letting him choose when he wants to be trained, but I've also got a few tricks up my sleeve (like a few toys he can only play with while he's on the potty). I know Jackson being potty trained at 2 years old was an anomaly and I'm not going to rush Micah because that could back fire on me big time.

Personality

Micah is my strong willed boy. He can be stubborn when it comes to saying "sorry" and when asked to do something specifically. Discipline takes longer because of that sometimes, but I know it will all pay off later.

A positive spin on the strong will is that he usually knows what he wants and rarely changes his mind about it. That made his birthday and will make Christmas really fun this year. (He's been eyeing a toy guitar in the Toys R Us ad as of late.)

He loves anything with buttons and anything having to do with music. Singing, the piano, the guitar, etc. He regularly makes up songs about random things he plays with or sees and loves it when the rest of the family makes up songs too. Although he can be pretty bossy about what bedtime songs he wants sung to him at night. :) But he also loves to sing along and I think that's adorable!

He is such a goof ball sometimes and gets the giggles right before bed. I love it and probably give in to it too often making it harder for him to settle down for the night, but I just treasure the times we have alone in his dimly lite room giggling about his silliness.

However, he's pretty shy around strangers and it takes him awhile to warm up to even family members, so don't be surprised if you don't hear him singing or even talking when you first meet him.

He ADORES his older brother and wants to do what ever he's doing. Most of the time that makes for a great play situation, but sometimes it can cause conflict over toys or my attention. I've resigned to the fact that I may have to buy multiples of the same toy to keep the peace (cheap toys that is ... I'm not that crazy). For example, one of my smarter purchases lately were two $1 flashlights. They will play in a closet with those together for at least an hour. I love that my two boys are such good buddies.

One of Micah's favorite things to do is find a place to hide and be alone. He loves forts and I think for his sake we might have to have a club house/tree house in the future. I remember doing that myself as a child and even now I tend to be rejuvenated more when I'm by myself than when I'm with other people.

Micah is almost hyper observant at times and catches on to things I would have never thought he would. He is such a little sponge lately ... the other day he was trying to say "hypothesis" and "ominous" because he heard us talking about it. He has a great memory too. That mixed with his strong will may be a challenge for Colin and I as he gets older. We're just praying he uses it for the greater good.

Our Prayer

Dear Father,

Thank you for Micah. Thank you for 2 years of life with him. He belongs to you and is a gift to us. Use him and everything about him for your glory. Help him to desire to know you more and be more like Jesus all the days of his life.

Amen

18 Month Old Check Up

Micah turned 18 months on April 25, 2010. His personality over the last several months has just blossomed and the paths of the two boys are now starting to diverge a little (as they should).

The Stats:
Weight: 24lbs 2oz 25%
Height: 33 1/2 inches 75%
Head Circumference: 49cm 80%

Micah's Schedule:
6:30 - some days he'll jabber in his crib and then go back to sleep
8:00 - wake up (sometimes he'll sleep till 8:30 if I'm lucky)
Noon - lunch
12:55 - small snack (we've found that he sleeps better at night and for his nap if he has a little snack (i.e. a cup of yogurt of peanut butter toast) right before he goes down).
1:00 - nap
3:30 - jabber or cry (depending on the day) in his crib until about 4pm if he doesn't just sleep until then ... more on this later.
4:00 - snack (not too much though otherwise he's not hungry for supper)
5:30 - supper
7:15 - bedtime routine including a little snack
7:30 - Bible story time, which he's gotten much better at sitting through over the last several months.
8:00 - in bed
8:30 - usually asleep

18 Month Challenges:
NAPS, NAPS, NAPS!!! Micah was sick over Easter and it took him awhile to bounce back which had a direct affect his naps.

At first he'd sleep about an hour and then wake up frantically crying. If I went in there to calm him down it only seemed to wake him up more, but if Colin went in there he'd go right back to sleep ... go figure ... it was the same if he woke up in the middle of the night, which he was doing during the time he was sick.

Eventually I tried rocking him for the rest of his nap to see if I could at least get him to take a full nap on me ... NOPE. My only choice at this point (knowing that he was perfectly healthy and perfectly capable of sleeping a full nap and through the night) was to let him cry it out. The evening cry outs were short lived, but the day time naps were not seeming to get any better UNTIL...

... one day Micah went over to a friend's house for a play date and came home after lunch, but right before nap time. I had no idea how much he had to eat for lunch, so I fed him some yogurt just in case and HE SLEPT AWESOME!!

Since then we've been giving him a snack before his nap and bedtime and he's been sleeping much better. He still has days where he wakes up early and sometimes he wakes up crying, but other days he wakes up happy (which I can handle much better), either way he stays in his crib until 4 o'clock because Mommy needs to have some down time.

18 Month Joys:
TALKING, TALKING, TALKING!!! Micah's vocabulary has taken off this past month and he's now even streaming two words together. Here are a few things you might hear him say:
"Mees!" - please
"Mee Mama!" - please Momma
"Hi,hi" - hide, hide
"Ah-min" - amen
"Da!" - yes
"No?" -no (I wish you could hear his intonation because it's so adorable)
"Moe" - more
"Up" - up
"Puppy" - puppy or any animal
"cows" - cars
"caka" - cracker
"me-mow" - Nemo and/or fruit snacks
"choo-choo" - train
"Ah-ah!" - monkey/Curious George
"Em-oh" - Elmo, but also elbow
"ni-ni daddy" - good night daddy
"da-di" - Jackson
"wee-oh" - wheel
"bi-boh" - bible
"dee-dus" - Jesus
"oots" - oops
He actually has quite a few more, but I won't bore you with a longer list than what I've given here. He's SO adorable when he "talks" and especially when he mimics his older brother ... thankfully Jackson is eating that up right now.

Micah's also showed some beginning signs of potty training readiness. The day of his 18 month check up he told me that he was poopy during lunch, but when I went to change him his diaper was empty. I asked him if he wanted to go poopy on the potty and he said, "Da!" (see above for translation) and to my surprise he went poop and pee on the potty! I've tried several times since then with no luck and it seems he has lost interest, so I'm not going to push potty training at this point, but it's a glimmer of hope for the future.

PLAY TIME! Micah and Jackson are now starting to play together ... okay well at least in the same room next to each other without me having to be present. It's been fun to watch them develop their relationship as brothers. Since this has taken place here are a few phrases you'll hear me say to both boys at various times and most likely several times during the day:

"You need to use your words if you want that toy and not just take it from him."
"He doesn't like that, you need to stop."
"Tell him 'no thank you' if you don't like what he's doing."
"Let him have a turn."
"Are you being loving?!"
"Go play in Jackson's room!"

Playing "together" at a children's museum.

Micah has caught Jackson's love of cars, but he also loves trains and puppies. He has a stuffed puppy that he sleeps with now (mostly because then he can play with it in bed after his nap until I'm ready to get him up). He'll walk around the house cuddling, kissing and talking to the puppy. He really is a cuddly little man and it is not uncommon for him to stop playing and find me just so he can cuddle for a minute or two (I LOVE THAT!).

He's starting to get more interested in reading entire books even with more than just a few words on a page, but he loves anything that he can take apart and put back together or that has multiple buttons on it. His absolute FAVORITE pass time is sitting in the parked car and playing with the steering wheel and all of the buttons and levers with Daddy. I may have to invest in a few more small motor skill toys in order to keep him busy in church and occupied on the potty once we're serious about training.

Micah's favorite thing at the children's museum.

Micah's personality is free spirited, adventurous and even at such a young age has some great comedic timing (although I'm not sure he's aware of that quite yet). He's shy around strangers, but once he warms up he can be such a HAM! He's a Momma's boy when he's out of his element, but when he's up for an adventure he runs straight to Daddy or his brother! :)

What more can I say?!

You are such a treat and a delight Micah! We love you SO much!

Diapers

I've seen a lot of facebook status updates about diapers and diaper brands, so I thought that I'd do a quick little blog so I can remember for the next child.

Newborn
Pampers Swaddler diapers are much softer and more absorbent than most diapers and don't cause rashes. I made the mistake of using off brand wipes on Micah and his poor little tooshie paid for that mistake. Next time around I'll definitely use the sensitive wipes until I feel like their bottom has toughened up a bit.

3 Months and Up
Once their bowel movements are a little more predictable and solid and their bottoms are a little tougher, I switch to off brand diapers during the day and the name brand diapers a night in order to save a little money. The only off brand that isn't really a "bargain" has been the Walmart brand Family Choice because I have to change their diapers more often due to leaking. Although, I have friends who have had good luck with them. I've also found that although Pampers is a little more expensive than LUVS or Huggies, they hold more and cover more of the boys' bottoms and are worth the price. I also have a "Strike Three" rule - after 3 blowouts/major leaks I up the diaper size.

Between 12 & 18 Months
Both of my boys began to wet through their night time diapers even though I was putting them in name brand diapers as well as in one size bigger than they wear during the day. Micah woke up several nights in a row one week soaked ... I quickly mastered changing a toddler's clothes and diaper in the dark. Eventually I gave in and bought Pampers special overnight diapers. Again, they are more expensive, but if it saves me having to change an entire outfit every night and getting more quality sleep for both me and Micah it's worth it.

Potty Training
I don't do Pull-Ups (you can read my potty training blog for more details). I think that I can just as easily take off and put on a normal diaper for early potty training and save the extra dollars. When Jackson was in his later stages of potty training I put him in underwear and never looked back ... I just hope I'm as lucky with Micah.

Cloth Diapers
I'm not an expert on cloth diapers all I know is that there are SO MANY different brands to choose from. I have a lot of friends who use them for various different reasons. I'm a just a little too lazy for them perhaps. If you have questions about them I know some great women who would love to answer any questions you have!

7 months

My Recovery

If you don't want to read about all of the female stuff that comes with having children, skip to the section titled Micah.

Micah will reach the 7 month mark on the 25th and I still have not started my cycle. I'm not complaining by any means, but I remember starting sooner with Jackson. However, I did start Jackson on solid foods a little bit earlier than I did Micah.

My libido is still pretty low, but I remember that with Jackson too. I don't think that it really became normal again until I was done nursing.

My hair loss seems to be slowing down finally too! (SIGH) It started to REALLY fall out when Micah was around 4 months old. I seriously thought I was going to go bald, but now it's slowing down and I desperately need a haircut.

I've been working out about twice a week doing 30 minutes of aerobics and 30 minutes of anaerobic. I'll also be starting a community class next week (Belly Dancing for Moms ... we'll see I guess). My pre-pregnancy clothes fit, but I'd have to say that the pants (particularly the jeans) are still not very comfortable to wear. Maybe I've just gotten used to loose fitting clothes?

Micah

We've spent a lot of time tweaking Micah's schedule over the past month and here's what it is now ... we'll see how long it stays this way, but we are definitely in a groove (BUT we are traveling this weekend, so we'll see what happens):

7:15am nurse
7:45am solids
9:15am nap
11:15am nurse
12:00pm solids
1:15pm nap
3:15pm nurse
5:15pm nap
6:00pm solids
7:15pm nurse and bedtime

I know it goes against Babywise to have a gap between nursing and solids, but my logic is that I want Micah's solid food intake to align with when we eat meals as a family and starting Micah's day at 8am has been difficult with the days I need to take Colin to work in the morning. We'll see if that bites me in the butt later on.

So far Micah's had rice and oatmeal cereal, acorn squash, sweet potato, yam, avocado and peas (all of which I've successfully made on my own). He's been eating about half a tea cup full or about 4 cubes of food at each feeding (less at breakfast because he drinks a lot more milk for that feeding).

It felt like nap times were hit and miss this month. There were times when I felt like we were doing great and then other days I'd be so frustrated because he'd wake up 30 minutes to an hour into his nap crying and the only way I could get him to go back to sleep was by putting him in the swing. (I have to remember that he had a TERRIBLE ... make that TWO TERRIBLE colds in a row this month).

However, this week has been much better. I'm also pleased that I haven't had to give him his pacifier much unless he's over tired. I think that's been the key for Micah ... getting him down for a nap BEFORE he gets fussy. For right now that's been about 2 hours after he wakes up from a nap.

He has been taking three naps a day, two of which are about 2 hours long and one that is about an hour long. BUT the past couple of days he's been waking up in the middle of the night (1 or 2am) wide awake (at least he's happy) for about a half an hour. He puts himself back to sleep, but then he wakes up for the day around 6:30am. SO, we decided to cut his third nap down to 30 minutes rather than a full hour. So far that seems to be working, but this is only the second night we've tried that.

Micah's sitting up and rolling over consistently. He loves sitting in his exer-saucer and under his play gym. However, his favorite activity is going on walks in the Joovy Caboose stroller we just got off of craigslist (Jackson loves the new stroller too). Micah's favorite toys right now are teething rings because I'm pretty sure he's starting to teeth.

He also started babbling a lot more in the past couple of weeks. His first babbles were "bah-vah" which sort of sounds like "brother" (of course Jackson just ate that up). It's possible that his newly discovered babbling, teething and a growth spurt may also be factors in him waking in the middle of the night.

Stranger anxiety also kicked in this month. I was surprised to see that he was fine at church last week when we were all sitting down, but as soon as the service was over and everyone was walking around he lost it. I'm also surprised that he tends to cry when young girls or young women look at him rather than men. We had a babysitter about a week ago and I guess he cried almost the whole time. BUT he took the bottle just fine! YAY!

Jackson

Jackson continues to surprise me everyday with how much he is growing up. He's taken the initiative several times now to go potty by himself. He has been playing by himself VERY well lately too, which makes it easier for me to get things done when Micah is napping.

Lately Jackson has really picked up on the concepts of phonics and it's been fun to watch him explore words and make up his own words. It's a bummer though that he's also developed motion sickness, so books in the car are no longer an option.

Jackson loves his little brother and prides himself in being a loving big brother. I couldn't have asked God for anything better than that!

Potty Training

Okay ... I haven't been actively potty training Jackson for a while now, but I wanted to be sure that I wrote down what we did before my memory got fuzzy about my methods. I know each child is so different when it comes to potty training, but I'm hoping it goes as smoothly with Micah as it did with Jackson when the time comes.

How did we decide when to start?

First of all I want to say that I used to work at a daycare and saw all different kinds of "potty trainees." If there is one thing I learned from that experience it's that it HAS to be the child's idea NOT the parents. If a child does not have a concept of the difference between pee and poop and cannot tell you when they have done either in their diaper than they are most likely NOT ready.

That being said, when Jackson around 18 months old my friend, Rachel, was done using her potty chair with her little girl and graciously passed it on to me.

Of all of the potty chairs that Jackson has used the "Safety First Potty Chair and Step Stool" (pictured above) worked the best. Some of the other potty chairs had splash guards that were too short and if Jackson sat the wrong way pee would end up on the floor. The seat also snapped easily on to just about any toilet without sliding around.

I put the potty chair in the bathroom and whenever I would go potty I'd encourage Jackson to sit on it too. I didn't push it or anything. If he wanted to sit he could if he didn't he didn't have to.

Around the same time Jackson was telling me when he went poop in his diaper. If he came to me saying, "Poopy Mommy! Poopy!" I'd get all excited and encourage him to go and sit on the potty chair (note: I left his diaper and all of his clothes on). Again, I did NOT force him. Most the time he'd sit on it for a second or two and then get off. After I changed his diaper, if the poop was solid enough, I'd dump the poop into the potty and let Jackson flush it down.

Then around 20 months Jackson started telling me that he was poopy and there was no poop in his diaper. Again, I'd encourage him to sit on the potty chair in his clothes and diaper. After a few times of him pooping in his diaper immediately after sitting on the potty chair we started attempting to sit on the potty without clothes or a diaper. Thus officially starting potty training.

To be honest I didn't really want to start potty training Jackson so young. It was February or March and it was still cold. I was hoping to start potty training in June around his 2nd birthday so that I didn't have to deal with the layers of winter clothes. It was also really early in my pregnancy with Micah and I wasn't looking forward to dumping poop in the potty while feeling sick (although, I'd have to change the poopy diapers, so I'm not sure that was a good argument). BUT, I knew that I had to jump at the chance of potty training if Jackson was interested, and he was.

How did we begin potty training?

Jackson was much more interested in going poop on the potty than pee. He never told me when he went pee in his diaper and rarely went pee in the potty chair. So, we kept him in a diaper. I put him on the potty chair in the morning right after he woke up, right before nap time, when he woke up from nap time and right before bed time regardless if he told me he had to go or not. I, of course, also put him on the potty whenever he said he had to go.

The key for Jackson was to get him to stay on the potty as long as his little attention span could handle it and he would eventually go poop (especially in the morning). We read A LOT of books!!!!

I'm also not ashamed to admit that there were times that we ate meals on the toilet too. I know that sounds gross, but we especially did this when Jackson had to go potty in the middle of a meal and we needed to be somewhere or it was too close to nap time or bed time.

As long as I stayed in the bathroom with Jackson while he was on the potty he had no qualms about staying on as long as it took to go poop (I know this may be a problem with Micah seeing as my attention will be divided).

When did we switch to underpants?

Another lesson that I picked up from the daycare was that pull ups are a waste of money for most children. Let's face it, they're diapers and the children know that they are diapers and they are more likely to poop and pee in them like a diaper. It's DEFINITELY more convenient for a parent to clean up since you just throw them away, but I'm not certain they helped any of the kids I potty trained at the daycare.

Around 22 months we moved to Santa Maria, California and Jackson was pooping consistently in the potty seat snapped on the regular toilet (that was REALLY nice for the still slightly nauseous mommy). So, we decided to switch to underpants during the day and diapers during naps and at night. We even went shopping for new underpants together. I was hoping that he'd have a few peeing accidents in his underpants, hate being wet and decide he would just use the potty. WISHFUL THINKING!!

Did we use bribery?

Jackson could care less if he had wet his pants and I was determined not to go back to diapers. SO, I started using incentives ... okay I'll just call it what it is .... bribery. We made a chart with the days of the week listed on it in rows, nothing fancy, and he got a sticker on the chart if he sat on the potty. He also got one fruit snack for peeing and one for pooping.

Once Jackson understood the chart I took him to the potty about every hour to two hours. The point of that was not to train Jackson, but to train me. By taking him every hour or so for about five days I was able to pick up on his routine of when he really needed to go to the bathroom. Once I had an idea of when Jackson needed to use the bathroom I started taking him only during those times.

Note: I wanted to create an incentive that I could keep up with and that I could easily wean him from eventually. That's why we didn't do toys as an incentive. Fruit snacks were cheap and once I felt like he got the hang of going potty the fruit snacks "ran out."

When did we start using underpants at night and for naps?

When Jackson started to consistently wake up in the morning and from naps with a dry diaper we put him in underpants. He did have a few accidents, but only a handful. HOWEVER, I will note that that was also the time when Jackson started waking up in the middle of the night crying.

After doing some research I discovered that that was Jackson's body's way of telling him he needed to use the bathroom, but he was too young to understand the message. So, when he'd wake up crying we'd taking him to the bathroom in the dark and then he'd go back to sleep for the rest of the night without a peep.

He cried out in the middle of the night for several weeks (not every night though) and as he got older and his bladder got larger and stronger he stopped waking up in the night to go to the bathroom.

When did we stop using the potty chair on the potty?

For awhile Jackson was scared to go on the potty if the little potty chair was not on the big potty. I don't really blame him. He hadn't gotten the hang of holding himself up and he really liked to look at books while he was on the potty. We even traveled with the potty seat. We slowly taught him how to hold himself up on the toilet and eventually he even came up with his own way of getting on the potty by himself. That's when we decided he didn't need the potty seat anymore.

How long did it take to not have any accidents?

Accidents happen! Sometimes they happen because Jackson is too busy playing and doesn't want to stop to go to the bathroom. Sometimes they happen because we're in a public place and he picks up my vibe of being grossed out by the bathrooms (I sanitize the toilet like CRAZY when I take him in a public restroom). Sometimes they happen because he's sick and I'm pumping him full of fluids to help him get better. Sometimes they happen because I forget to remind him to go to the bathroom. Sometimes they happen because he's still 2 (almost 3) and doesn't have the bladder control of an adult.

When I know that we may encounter one of the above scenarios I try to nip it in the bud and I do my best to make sure Jackson goes to the bathroom.

HOWEVER, I NEVER make a big deal about accidents. We sit on the potty, change his clothes and go back to playing. In my opinion, accidents are not a reason to discipline a child. If Jackson LIES to me about not needing to go to the bathroom when he really does THAT'S a different story, but then he's not being disciplined for the accident, but rather for lying.

I ALWAYS make a big deal about when he uses the potty. When he first started potty training the praises were for sitting on the potty chair clothed and now they are for taking the initiative to go potty all by himself.