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!

8 Months Old and 3 Years Old

In order to organize my thoughts about these ages, I thought I'd write out a typical day in the life of my eight month old and three year old.

7:30am - If Micah's not already awake (which he usually is), I wake him up to feed him before Jackson wakes up because once Jackson is awake and vying for my attention Micah has lost all interest in nursing regardless of how hungry he really is. Micah nurses pretty fast now. Even in the morning when I'm pretty full he can drink everything in about 10 - 15 minutes and only needs to burp at the end of the feeding.

7:45am - I can hear the pitter-patter of Jackson's little feet as he comes running out of his room ready to start the day. He goes potty (usually he'll go all by himself, but still needs help putting his clothes back on when he's done) and I change Micah and we all head downstairs for breakfast. Of course there's usually some time to cuddle a little or read a quick book or play cars for a few minutes.

8:00am - Our breakfasts usually consist of scrambled eggs or oatmeal with some sort of fruit and a glass of milk. Micah is taking a mixture of pureed fruit (he's had applesauce, apricots and blueberries so far) and oatmeal cereal (rice tends to stop him up)about 3/4 of a tea cup full.

8:30ish - Micah plays in his saucer until he gets bored and we've picked up the toys he's dropped for the millionth time and then he rolls around on the floor. (I haven't baby proofed yet, but that time is coming VERY quickly. Luckily Jackson has been very good about keeping the big kid toys out of Micah's reach.) Jackson usually wants me to play cars with him. He sometimes drives them around on the couch or floor or makes them fly around the house, but most of the time he just wants them to talk to each other. He has quite the collection of hotwheels and pixar cars, most of which he paid for with his own money (he's now getting $3.00 a week for allowance... plus he got a bunch of birthday money).

9:30am - Micah goes down for a nap. I love how he snuggles up to me right before I lay him in bed. He's no longer taking a pacifier and whenever I give him one he treats it more like a toy than an object to sooth himself with (I can sometimes here him clanging his pacifier on his crib like a jail bird with a tin cup ... it's pretty funny). Jackson and I usually have some play time together during Micah's nap. We pull out the toys that are not safe to play with when Micah's awake like Legos and Play Doh. Some days Jackson will play by himself while I get things done, or he'll play on the computer while I take a shower. More and more Jackson wants me to play with him though and is very disappointed when I tell him I've got other responsibilities to take care of before I can play. It'll be nice when the boys can play together ... I hope.

11:30am - Micah wakes up and I nurse him. I'll usually let Jackson watch a video while I do this feeding because otherwise he's in and out of the room a lot and Micah gets too distracted. Micah LOVES Jackson and is mesmerized by him whenever he's around. Right now Jackson's favorite DVDs are "Thomas the Tank Engine" "Curious George" episodes and "Mickey Mouse and Friends." They have several short episodes on each of them (perfect for his attention span) and no "scary parts" as Jackson would say.

12:00pm - We all eat lunch. Jackson will eat just about anything. I try to serve him a variety of foods. He likes all of the regular things like hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly and chicken nuggets, but he also eats salmon, black beans, avocado, asparagus, etc. Micah usually has about 1 tea cup full of a mixture of pureed meat (so far he's just had chicken), a starch (like sweet potatoes) and a vegetable. Sometimes I'll mix in a fruit, but sometimes I'll serve the fruit in a different tea cup depending on what I'm mixing.

12:30ish - We finish lunch and play for awhile and then head upstairs to read books and get ready for naps (change diapers and go potty). If we do have the car for the day this is usually the best time for us to go to the library or store (I'll even pack a lunch for Jackson sometimes and take it with us).

1:30pm - Both boys are in bed and I get some time to blog, facebook, read, make phone calls, sleep, etc.

3:15ish - Micah talks to himself for awhile in his crib. Sometimes he'll go back to sleep and other times he'll stay awake until his next feeding.

3:30pm - Micah nurses and we have one on one time. He's figured out how to roll to where he wants to go, but he hasn't figured out how to creep yet.
He's getting there and he gets frustrated when he doesn't get or can't get what he wants. He's also starting to get frustrated when I take something away from him that he wants (particularly books).

4:00pm - Jackson wakes up groggy from his nap. He LOVES to cuddle after his nap and is usually pretty sweaty from sleeping so hard. This is probably one of my favorite times of the day. Then we all head downstairs and have a snack (all except Micah). Then we may go for a quick walk.

5:00pm - The past couple of days Jackson has befriended the girl next door. She'll be 5 in September, but they play very well together. Jackson has played at her house once and she has come over to our house a couple of times. This is the first friend that Jackson has had that I WASN'T good friends with the mom first. It was kind of weird, but a good reminder that I should be expecting that in the near future when he becomes school aged. Anyway, it's been a nice break to not feel like I have to entertain Jackson until Colin gets home. Jackson's been getting good at putting on a pouty face and saying, "but you said you would play with me Mom." Oooo ... it gets me every time. Micah's usually content enough to play by himself at this time and I can start working on supper.

6:00pm - Colin comes home and we all have supper. Micah eats with us in a high chair. I was feeding him in the Bumbo up until this week when he was insistent on bending over backwards (literally) to watch the TV (whether it was on or not) and it was very difficult to feed him that way. At the end of supper Colin and Jackson usually work on catechism or Bible memory work.

6:30pm - Micah starts getting a little fussy as bedtime approaches. He doesn't take a third nap, but he's definitely ready for bed when bedtime comes. However, he's been getting better during this time more and more every day. Jackson and Colin usually play outside while I clean up supper.

7:00pm - We get ready for bed. If they take a bath it's during this time.
After we're ready for bed we read books or play until Jackson's night light comes on at 7:30pm. Then Colin reads the Bible story. We try and get Micah to stay all the way through the Bible story, but sometimes he's just too fussy and I nurse him and put him to sleep in his own room while Colin and Jackson have one on one time.

8:00pm - Colin's already said good night to Jackson and I get some one on one time with Jackson in his room before bed. We usually talk about the day or talk about "Dis-a-neyland" (yes, Jackson STILL talks about it almost every night). I sing him one song, pray with him and say good night.

To end, here are a few of Micah and Jackson's favorite and least favorite things:

Micah's Favorite Things:

His brother.
Rolling, rolling and more rolling.
Experimenting with the sounds he can make with his mouth.
Putting anything and everything in his mouth.
Sucking on the collar of his sleep sack and or rubbing the collar on his cheek.
Playing tug of war with any fabric hanging above his head (it makes him giggle).
Going for walks in the stroller or in the wrap.

Banging, banging and more banging.

Micah's Least Favorite Things:

Vacuums
Blenders
Coffee grinders
When his brother cries.
Strangers (although he's getting much better)
Bottles

Jackson's Favorite Things:

His brother (making him laugh).
Cars, cars and cars!!
Books
Puzzles (he's mastered his 25 piece puzzles)
Legos

His Cool School computer game.
Trains (particularly Thomas although we have Geotrax toy trains).
Watching movies.
Playing outside (he pretends the lamp posts are rockets and launches to outer space)

Jackson's Least Favorite Things:

Having to stop playing to go to the bathroom.
Mr. Incredibles boss (the short guy) in the the movie "The Incredibles"
When Sully "roars" in "Monster's Inc."
Playing cars by himself.
Being stuck in a car or airplane for too long.
Getting his hair cut (although he's getting better).
Bees (but he's not at all afraid of spiders)

It's an adventure every day with my boys ... some might thinks it's kind of a boring adventure at times, but I like it ... no ... I LOVE it!

Deviation Disaster

Okay, maybe disaster is an over statement, but I thought it was a good alliteration. Anyway, I wanted to post a blog on how deviating too far from a routine can get me into trouble with my kids as I mentioned in this blog. Yesterday was a good example ... it was only a small deviation, but it still had it's consequences.

Our family is living with one car right now. Since Colin lives so close to his work that hasn't been a problem, but lately he's been going in to work pretty early ... like 6:30am and I'm not willing to wake the kids up to take him so that I can have the car. Do you blame me?

Anyway, Colin went in to work late yesterday, so that I could have the car. Normally, I'd have already fed Micah and packed a breakfast for Jackson so that we could drop Colin off at work by 8am and then head to the grocery store and make it home before Micah's morning nap. There are so many good reasons why it's better to shop in the morning (it's not crowded, my kids are better behaved, the produce is fresher and I can check out MUCH faster).

However, I did not have my meals planned out for the week and I didn't have a grocery list, so I decided to wait until after the afternoon naps to go grocery shopping. The idea was to go at 4pm and be done around 5:30pm to pick Colin up from work and then if Micah needed a third nap we'd be home for it.

In reality we didn't really get out of the door until around 4:30pm (you know how that goes). The grocery store was very busy and I had a long list of things to buy. Around 5:15pm I realized that I was not going to make a 5:30 pick up for Colin, but didn't sweat it. Then by the time we were checking out Micah was ready for that third nap, but I was still not sweating it, not too much anyway.

I gave Colin a call when we were on our way to pick him up at 6pm and he said that he was not quite ready for us yet. GRRR ... I was TRYING not to sweat it at this point. We usually eat dinner around 6pm. Luckily I had packed some crackers and milk for Jackson to eat at the grocery store, but when we got to Colin's work I popped the trunk and also got him an apple. I was surprised at how well Micah was doing at this point.

We got home around 6:30. Colin and Jackson unloaded the groceries and Colin went back to work (yeah ... it's been that kind of week for him ... not fun). I quick got Jackson some meat (he'd already had an apple and crackers) and then made Micah's food. By this time Micah was getting a little frantic about being hungry.

So now Micah had been without his third nap and ate a half an hour after his normal time and only an hour before his bedtime. My fear was that he'd get full on solid food and not nurse well at bedtime. So, I only gave him about half to three fourths of what I would normally give him. It was enough to make him happy.

By 7:30 Micah was ready for bed ... and you moms know what I mean by "READY for bed." He fell asleep nursing. Bummer. Because he fell asleep nursing he didn't drink as much and he didn't burp well. Bummer. But he was asleep. Maybe the deviation from his routine wouldn't have that big of an affect on him.

11:30pm Micah woke up crying, not a scream, just a cry. I tried to burp him, but was unsuccessful. I finally ended up giving him gas drops and a pacifier and that seemed to do the trick. I hadn't even gone to bed yet, so it's not like I lost sleep. I went to bed hoping that that was all he needed to make it through the rest of the night.

5:30am Micah woke up crying. I put the pacifier in.

5:35am Micah woke up crying. I tried to burp him and put the pacifier in again.

5:40am Micah woke up crying. I gave him the pacifier and he spit it out immediately. He wasn't hurt and wasn't showing any signs of being sick. So, I gave in and nursed him. As soon as he drank what he needed he fell right back to sleep and I woke him up at 7:45am.

My conclusion: not having a third nap and eating a late dinner meant that Micah was extremely tired at bedtime and did not burp well and nurse well enough to make it through the night.

My solution: make a grocery list the night before and go grocery shopping in the morning.

The good news is that, now that Jackson's older, that deviation had NO affect on him at all. I look forward to the days when Micah will follow suit.

Lesson learned!

My Reasons for Routines

This blog is a note for myself to read when I get criticized by other people (people who, I'm sure, have my best interest in mind) for keeping my children on a fairly rigid routine. "Slave to the clock, eh?" they say. When I doubt why I do what I do as a mom I can read this as a reminder for the choices I've made.

In a recent article in Babytalk magazine entitled, Routine Matters, Paula Spencer writes, "Child-development specialists tend to agree that babies thrive best on a routine. 'Routines are comforting. They're a stabilizing force in the life of even a young infant,' explains Will Wilkoff, M.D., a pediatrician in Brunswick, Maine. 'He learns to expect pretty much the same things to happen at about the same time in the same place and with the same people.' This regularity helps a baby to feel more secure, he says, and to gradually adjust his own body rhythms to predictable patterns for sleeping, eating, and activity -- which over time makes everyone's life easier. The first year of life is full of so many new experiences, being able to count on certain occurrences day in and day out is incredibly consoling for your baby."

I've come a long way since I started scheduling with Jackson and I have definitely eased up a little on how regimented I am with my boys' schedules, but I also know from experience that when I am too flexible with their schedules stuff tends to "hit the fan."

The number one reason I stick to a routine with my children is PREDICTABILITY!!! Not just for me, but also for them (as the quote above explains). However, it's nice for me to know what my children need depending on their routine. I rarely ever (I won't say "never") question whether or not my children are hungry or tired because I know the answer based on their routines.

Parental authority comes in a close second for reasons I schedule my children. Okay ... don't hear what I'm NOT saying. I don't view parenting as a "right" to rule over my children as if now they are my minions under my domain. Parenting is a privilege and an honor that I don't take lightly. Colossians 3:21 (NASB)says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart."

However, that being said, if Colin and I don't establish a routine for our children than who is likely to determine when they eat and when they go to bed and how long they play? Most likely the children. In my 10 plus years of child care experience (ranging from babysitter to nanny to daycare worker to mom) households where the children ran the roost were usually pretty exhausted households. I'm not stating my opinion here ... just my observations.

I've seen kids treat their parents like slaves, throwing tantrums in public and in private to get what they want. I've seen parents who are at their wit's end because they can't understand why their children misbehave when they've given them everything they've asked for. I've also seen those same children become more submissive and happier children when they begin to live on a predictable routine that includes healthy eating and sleeping habits (a bit more discipline helped too, but that's another blog).

Colin and I decided long before we had our first son that we were going to have a family-centered household rather than a child-centered household. Meaning we would establish a routine for our children that would fit into our family dynamics rather than reshaping our family dynamics to center around the needs of the child. Of course our family needs to make sacrifices for each other including the children but that's part of being a family and that does NOT mean the children become the central focus.

Another reason that I insist on scheduling my children may seem contradictory, but it is because routines make the times when we need to be flexible MUCH more manageable. It's easier for us to bounce back from a chaotic Memorial Day Weekend trip or illnesses if we know what our normal routine looks like.

Finally, it's been easier to have other people to take care of my children when I can tell them almost exactly what to expect. It's also easier on my children because they know what to expect even when being cared for by someone other than Colin or myself.

Again, I didn't write this blog to convince anyone to start putting their children on a routine. And I don't want to paint a perfect image of scheduling either. Establishing a routine for our children at such a young age is hard and frustrating at times. There were many times that I wanted to "throw in the towel," but for me the short term struggle has been worth the long term gain. Besides, parenting is just plain hard sometimes whether we put our children on a routine or not.

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!

5 Months

It seems like it's been awhile since I've posted about our progress. Colin was on vacation for a week and a half so we've been traveling like crazy! It's been wonderful to visit places and see people, but it has been difficult on our routines.

Micah was doing about a three and a half hour feeding schedule with one two hour feeding towards the end of the night to keep up the five feedings and to also keep up the twelve hours of sleep he was getting at night. I also started feeding him baby oatmeal once a day at his 5 o'clock feeding. However, when we were on vacation in the Midwest Micah was not nursing well. He'd eat one side (maybe) and then nurse only a tiny bit on the other side. I attributed it to a flexible routine and him having a cold. There were a few times that he went longer than three and a half hours and he nursed MUCH better (I thought maybe he was getting ready to go on a four hour feeding schedule before we left, but I wanted to wait until we were back from vacation and in a normal routine), so I "sucked it up" and switched him to a four hour feeding schedule and added one more feeding of oatmeal at the end of our trip. I was surprised at how easily he fell into a four hour routine. Now Micah's routine looks like this (knock on wood because as soon as I write this something will change I'm sure):

7:30 nurse
9:30 nap
11:30 nurse and feed solid food
1:30 nap
3:30 nurse and feed solid food (although I'm thinking about doing solids around supper time instead, so that when he's weaned from nursing it'll be an easier transition to our meal time, but I don't want to create a habit of eating every 2 to 3 hours still)
5:30 short nap (this nap can get easily skipped if need be)
7:30 nurse and bed



Micah also started rolling from his tummy to his back pretty consistently this month and he can sit up for a few seconds without assistance. His drool output has definitely increased this month and perhaps we'll be seeing a tooth in the next little while (Jackson didn't get his first tooth until 7 months so we'll see). He's a happy little guy and although he hasn't made any consonant sounds yet he loves to jabber. He's a cuddle bug too. Sometimes if he fusses at the beginning of a nap all I have to do is cuddle with him for a few minutes and then put him back in his crib and he goes right to sleep. (By the way, I'm still swaddling him for his naps and he still takes a pacifier. For bed time, I put socks on his hands (I know it sounds silly)so that he doesn't accidentally scratch himself and to discourage him from sucking his thumb.) He's also very tender hearted when it comes to his brother ... if Jackson is crying Micah will cry too and the minute Jackson stops so does Micah.

I haven't had much Mommy and Jackson time lately due to our traveling, but Jackson has not been deprived at all (time with great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, going to Disneyland, etc.) He's grown up so much these past couple of weeks. I LOVE watching him play with other children ... his personality begins to shine. Despite being sick with a cold at the end of our vacation Jackson has been SUCH a trouper with all of the crazy traveling we've been doing lately. I really am proud of his maturity in that regard.

My boys are growing up WAY too fast, but it's been such an honor and a blessing to watch!!

TOTALLY Worth It

Question: Why is it that the two biggest church holidays where we expect our children to look nice for pictures and be happy are the most chaotic?!

How could I possible expect my children to be little angels when they have been in an airplane for four hours straight, in the car for a total of about eight hours, missed several naps, pumped full of sugar, sleeping in a totally different environment than they are used to, over stimulated by all of the relatives that need to hug and kiss on them and sick with colds.

But they were.

I'm the cranky one. I get irritated if people are not considerate of my child sleeping in the upstairs room. I'm annoyed with all of the noises of a different house (creaky staircases, squeaky doors, footsteps on the ceiling). I get frustrated when someone wants to interrupt my motherly routine. I'm paranoid about germs from strangers and relatives. I'm disappointed the the sleeping arrangements are a little more than cramped. I'm cranky.

But it's worth it.

I've missed being with family. It's rare to be in a room full of people that you love so much and who love you in return. It's rare to watch your children be loved on and cared for and played with by people who genuinely love them and want whats best for them. It's rare to talk until the wee hours of the night about anything and everything because no one wants to say good night because that means it's one more day closer to saying good bye.

It's TOTALLY worth it.

Week 18: Bottle and Boogie Man Battles

Micah had his 4 month check up this week and everything went well. He's 15 lbs 14oz and is 25 inches long. He's in the 60% for weight and 75% for height and head size. Other than a little eczema on his back the doctor said he looks like a healthy little boy! YEAH! Thank the LORD!

That being said, this past week we have been battling with Micah to take a bottle. Last week we bought a new brand of bottles to see if he would like it and he even took 5 ounces from me. BUT he hasn't wanted anything to do with the bottle since! I should have started giving him one regularly when he was a little younger ... (sigh) who knows he might have STILL had problems even now. Well, we're NOT giving up, so if any of you moms out there have any good advice for me I'd love to hear it.

Other than that Micah's week was pretty good. He was out of routine on Sunday so he did have a little bit of a hard time adjusting to naps again on Monday and Tuesday. He also woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday due to his shots (he got four shots and an oral rota virus vaccine), but I just gave him a little Tylenol and as soon as that kicked in he went right back to sleep.

Jackson had a great week too, but we are just starting to battle his active imagination at night time. Nothing to unmanageable, but still a battle none-the-less. I didn't help matters much yesterday night ... I let Jackson watch "Toy Story." Usually I skip past the scary parts, but I was talking to my friend on the phone about my bottle dilemma with Micah and forgot to pay attention. In the middle of our conversation I heard Jackson yell, "MOMMY! MOMMY, MOMMY!" in the most frightened voice I'd ever heard come out of his little mouth. I quickly turned off the T.V. and ended the conversation with my friend (sorry Rachel). Jackson was so scared that he wouldn't even go near the T.V. He just wanted to go upstairs and cuddle with his daddy who was on a conference call for work (that was part of the reason I let him watch the movie in the first place). We interrupted the meeting for a quick cuddle and then Jackson was fine. I felt SO bad! We talked about how the movie was just pretend and how God will protect him and take care of him. I was fully expecting to be up in the night with Jackson, but he didn't wake up at all (thank you Jesus). Whew! I learned MY lesson!

Week 16: CLICK

Things really seemed to click this week for all of us. I'm sure it helped that none of us are sick right now. Sunday and Monday were the most difficult days of the week because Sunday is compelety out of routine with church and Monday is spent trying to get back into the routine that was interrupted on Sunday. I remember this to be true with Jackson too up until he was even a year old. Worshiping our Lord and Savior is well worth the sacrifice of a routine though and I'm not going to change anything in that regard. I know that Micah will learn how to bounce back quicker over time.

Well, I stuck to the three hour schedule this week like I planned and things are going well. This is the first time that I really feel like we have a good routine established. For my sake and perhaps for yours I'll write down what our daily routine looks like:

7:00am - Jackson wakes up and has time with Colin before Colin goes to work.
7:30am - Micah nurses and Colin is off to work.
8:00am - Micah has awake time downstairs while Jackson and I eat breakfast.
8:45am - Micah goes down for a nap and Jackson and I get cleaned up and dressed for the day. Then we have our morning one on one play time.
10:30am - Micah nurses and Jackson has alone play time until Micah is done and then we all play together.
12:00pm - Micah goes down for a nap and Jackson and I eat lunch.
1:00pm - Jackson goes down for a nap and I get some alone play time (SIGH).
1:30pm - Micah nurses and we have one on one play time.
3:00pm - Micah goes down for a nap and I have a little time to do devotions, rest or plan supper.
4:00pm - Jackson wakes up from his nap.
4:30pm - Micah nurses.
5:30pm - I start getting supper ready.
6:00pm - Colin comes home from work and we have supper and Micah goes down for a nap.
6:30pm - Colin and Jackson have one on one play time.
7:15pm - Wake up Micah and Jackson starts to get ready for bed.
7:30pm - Bible time with Jackson and Micah.
7:45pm - Jackson in bed and Micah gets ready for bed and nurses.
8:00pm - Micah in bed.

That's pretty much how the week went this week. It gets more complicated when you add in going grocery shopping and the library, which I'm so proud that I accomplished this week as well. I was also able to clean my entire house and do all the laundry this friday too (my sister and her brother-in-law are visiting this weekend) which I haven't done since before Micah was born.

Colin and I celebrated Valentine's last night by getting a babysitter and going out to eat. I was so excited because Micah and Jackson had had a GREAT day of naps and playtime and I got cleaning done and Colin came home early from work it was a GREAT day!! We enjoyed a wonderful meal at a very nice restaurant, but the babysitter called and said that Micah wouldn't take the bottle I prepared for him. Luckily we were pretty much done with dinner and didn't sound like Micah was too fussy. So, we finished up and headed home to feed Micah. We hadn't tried giving him a bottle since he was about 10 weeks old, so I wasn't sure how he'd do with it. We were able to successfully give Jackson a bottle at least once a week, so that freed us to go on dates whenever we wanted or needed to. This will be our next goal for Micah!!

Good week all in all!!

Weeks 6, 7 & 8

My Recovery: I'm EXHAUSTED!!! Micah has had a couple of nights where he's gone only three hours between feedings and I have come down with a cold. I'm still having some bathroom issues, mostly because it's been hard for me to remember to keep drinking lots of water. But, I had my six week check up with the midwives and everything looks good.

I'm in a very frustrating in between size right now with my clothes. I kind of feel like I need to go out and by a whole new wardrobe and then mark the tags "in between maternity and normal size" ... hmmm ... I could start a whole new fashion line and call it .... Matormal! :)

Micah: he's been doing really well at night (with the exception of one or two nights) and has even done some 7 hour stints between feedings (BUT they start at 6:45pm, so I'm not feeling the benefits in my sleep yet).

HOWEVER, nap times have been BEASTS!!!!!! I finally cleared out over half of our walk in closet and stuck his bed in there to see if the darkness would help him sleep longer. It did ...well ... sort of. After some VERY frustrating nap times this week that went something like this: good awake time from 7:30am - 8:30am and then lay in his bed from 8:30am to about 8:45 or 9am, sleep from 9am -9:30am (at least he can put himself to sleep) and wake up screaming at 9:30am. Then cry off and on until 10:30am when it's time to eat, but he's so exhausted that he falls asleep feeding and then doesn't eat enough ... yaddy, yaddy, yaddy ... starting the whole cycle all over again. I gave up cheese earlier this week because Micah was fussy during feedings. He'd nurse well for five minutes and then cry through the rest of the feeding and have tons of gas. Cutting cheese helped a little bit, but he was still having a hard time at nap times, so I finally broke down and got some anti-gas medicine last night and so far it seems to be working, I'm sure it'll take a little bit for him to break the habit of waking up in between sleep cycles.

Other than that he's doing great! Micah has been smiling and cooing more this last week and we've been enjoying it so much! It's so fun to see his personality start to develop.

Jackson: has really grown up over the last couple of weeks. He has even learned the skill of taking off and putting on his pants and underpants all by himself so that he can go to the bathroom with little help. He's getting much better at playing by himself and practicing delayed gratification ... although I must say that my midwife's advice, "Tend to the toddler first" has been very useful. As long as he has his needs met first (of course there are exceptions) he's alright with my attention going towards Micah.

Jackson has acquired some new phrases that I love, like, "Whose talkin' back there?" "Are you talkin' Micah?" "It's okay Micah, Mommy's got you."

He is such a loving brother and VERY anxious to be able to interact more with Micah as he gets older, but all in all Jackson is proud of the fact that he's the big brother and takes care of his mommy and Micah.