Peter headed away for 6 months on Saturday It was really tough to say good-bye - tougher than I thought. Nathan did much better than I thought he would and continues to do quite well. We know that he's doing what God wants for our family and we know that the end result will be worth all this in-between craziness, but it's still going to be a tough time for our family all around.
The kids and I have moved in with my parents for the time that he's away. Saturday and yesterday were crazy. Saturday after Peter flew out we went back home, packed what we needed, and cleaned until 6 p.m. I wanted to leave the house ready for a showing just in case. Then we headed to my parent's house and got here around 9:30 p.m. We did well that night to get everything out of the vehicles and the kids in their beds. Peter called that night to let me know he had arrived safely but we didn't chat for long.
Yesterday was another crazy day. I headed back to the city we'd been living in for church. In the afternoon I had a school meeting. There was also an open house at our place, so I went home between church and my meeting to turn on all the lights, etc ... I got back to my parent's house with the kids around 6 last night and they had a 'normal' bedtime routine, etc ... which was great. Before Nathan went to bed we did a video chat with Peter. Nathan was very excited to see Daddy and he told him 'I lub you' several times. It's so good that he's able to communicate so well now compared to even a few months ago.
I decided I would wait to unpack until this morning as I was pretty exhausted last night. I got up this morning and started. I've been working away steadily and everything pretty much has a place now. Both the kids are napping and I'm just taking a break for a few minutes. I'm trying not to think about how long 6 months is ... just focusing on one day at a time!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Stayin' Alive
Yep, I'm still here. I realize posts have been scarce this week. Peter has been off and he leaves for six months tomorrow! He will be returning just in time for Christmas. I love Christmas any year but this one will be extra special!
Since I missed Hannah's 12 week post I'll just put a few highlights here. She has still been sleeping wonderfully! She sleeps easily between 10 and 12 hours per night. The earliest she has woken in the past week is 6:40 a.m. Talk about amazing. I am completely shocked with how well she's doing. I have been trying to keep her up for the 2 hours at supper time but she has trouble making it past 90 minutes.
I tried stopping the swaddle during this week and it seems now to be ok for night-time sleep but she really doesn't nap as well without it. I restarted swaddling her today and she seems to like it much better.
She fell out of love with her activity mat late last week so we were doing more playpen and bouncy seat time. I tried her on the mat this afternoon and she seemed much happier. I will be taking it with me when we move to my parent's house.
Other than that, this week has been spent preparing for Peter's departure. Tuesday night we went on a date. We went to see The Proposal and it was actually better than I expected! We laughed out loud many times throughout the movie.
I can't believe Hannah will be 3 months old next week!
Since I missed Hannah's 12 week post I'll just put a few highlights here. She has still been sleeping wonderfully! She sleeps easily between 10 and 12 hours per night. The earliest she has woken in the past week is 6:40 a.m. Talk about amazing. I am completely shocked with how well she's doing. I have been trying to keep her up for the 2 hours at supper time but she has trouble making it past 90 minutes.
I tried stopping the swaddle during this week and it seems now to be ok for night-time sleep but she really doesn't nap as well without it. I restarted swaddling her today and she seems to like it much better.
She fell out of love with her activity mat late last week so we were doing more playpen and bouncy seat time. I tried her on the mat this afternoon and she seemed much happier. I will be taking it with me when we move to my parent's house.
Other than that, this week has been spent preparing for Peter's departure. Tuesday night we went on a date. We went to see The Proposal and it was actually better than I expected! We laughed out loud many times throughout the movie.
I can't believe Hannah will be 3 months old next week!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Nathan - 25 months
I would like to keep monthly updates of Nathan (and future kids) after they hit a point where each week there is not enough to update :) Since Nathan is obviously past that point (although his learning capacity at the moment is staggering!) we'll start with monthly updates now.
Skills Learned
Nathan learned how to open doors (with doorknobs that turn) this month. He's only done it once so far, though!
He has started to hold a crayon / marker more correctly this month. I have been helping him hold one and trace letters during our structured one-on-one time in the mornings.
Interesting Vocabulary / Speech Patterns
'Okay' (said slowly, emphatically, and with a pause between the 'O' and the 'kay') was a fun word that Nathan learned this month.
I also love when he says 'Hannah happy.' It makes me happy :) Just the inflection in his voice.
He learned the word 'splash' on our first day at the lake this month ... while throwing rocks into the water.
He also has learned how to say 'Yep, Mama' this month and knows what it means.
Training / Correction
We were working on Nathan doing what we instruct him to do this month. I really started working on this about 10 days ago. He's always been fairly obedient but, like a normal toddler, often ignores us when he wants to do something different than what we tell him to. I was tired of repeating myself a million times so decided to require a 'yes, mommy' from him when I tell him to do something.
He has mastered how to say the phrase 'yep, mama' and will say it about half the time when prompted. He was really good at saying it the first few days but then he started to understand what it meant. Now if he doesn't want to do something he'll resist saying it.
Eating
Nathan tried raw vegetables for the first time this month! For a long time I only gave him cooked vegetables because of choking hazards, and when I started trying to introduce raw ones he stuck his nose up at them. I've been consistent in offering them whenever we have them (which is very often in the summer!) and he finally ate some lettuce and peppers this week. We found out carrots are still too hard for his teeth, so I'll grate those next time.
Nathan also started eating both apples (without peeling / slicing them first) and corn on the cob this month! He *loves* corn on the cob and will eat 2 ears whenever we have it.
Potty Training
We haven't officially started training Nathan yet. This month I bought Potty Training 1-2-3 by Gary Ezzo and bought Nathan some training pants and regular underwear. Nathan used the potty twice. We plan to start really training (but still casually - we're not going to try the intensive 1 day plan) within the next month.
Miscellaneous
Nathan and Peter went to see Bob the Builder in a play / musical this month. He really enjoyed it and it was nice for he and Peter to get to experience that together. Here is a picture of his face while he watched.
And him hugging the kitty:
Skills Learned
Nathan learned how to open doors (with doorknobs that turn) this month. He's only done it once so far, though!
He has started to hold a crayon / marker more correctly this month. I have been helping him hold one and trace letters during our structured one-on-one time in the mornings.
Interesting Vocabulary / Speech Patterns
'Okay' (said slowly, emphatically, and with a pause between the 'O' and the 'kay') was a fun word that Nathan learned this month.
I also love when he says 'Hannah happy.' It makes me happy :) Just the inflection in his voice.
He learned the word 'splash' on our first day at the lake this month ... while throwing rocks into the water.
He also has learned how to say 'Yep, Mama' this month and knows what it means.
Training / Correction
We were working on Nathan doing what we instruct him to do this month. I really started working on this about 10 days ago. He's always been fairly obedient but, like a normal toddler, often ignores us when he wants to do something different than what we tell him to. I was tired of repeating myself a million times so decided to require a 'yes, mommy' from him when I tell him to do something.
He has mastered how to say the phrase 'yep, mama' and will say it about half the time when prompted. He was really good at saying it the first few days but then he started to understand what it meant. Now if he doesn't want to do something he'll resist saying it.
Eating
Nathan tried raw vegetables for the first time this month! For a long time I only gave him cooked vegetables because of choking hazards, and when I started trying to introduce raw ones he stuck his nose up at them. I've been consistent in offering them whenever we have them (which is very often in the summer!) and he finally ate some lettuce and peppers this week. We found out carrots are still too hard for his teeth, so I'll grate those next time.
Nathan also started eating both apples (without peeling / slicing them first) and corn on the cob this month! He *loves* corn on the cob and will eat 2 ears whenever we have it.
Potty Training
We haven't officially started training Nathan yet. This month I bought Potty Training 1-2-3 by Gary Ezzo and bought Nathan some training pants and regular underwear. Nathan used the potty twice. We plan to start really training (but still casually - we're not going to try the intensive 1 day plan) within the next month.
Miscellaneous
Nathan and Peter went to see Bob the Builder in a play / musical this month. He really enjoyed it and it was nice for he and Peter to get to experience that together. Here is a picture of his face while he watched.
And him hugging the kitty:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Piano
Growing up I was given free piano lessons for about 8 years from the organist in our church. She was also my assigned mentor and this was one of the (many) things she did for me. I appreciate what she poured into my life over those years as well as her prayers since I was 6 years old.
Like most kids I wasn't all that keen on practicing daily. I did a program that had me go through books of songs (rather than learn a few songs really well in a year) so sight-reading was something at which I became quite proficient. I also learned to play by chord - very helpful when playing with a worship team. I was never very good at improvising from the chords, though. I blame that on my lack of imagination.
When I moved out for university and then got married the next year, we went without a piano for several years. Once we built our house we inherited a piano, but it was in pretty bad shape, so I didn't play it. With our upcoming move, Peter started selling off some stuff we were not going to use again, including the piano. At the end of it he had enough money to buy me a really nice electric piano!
It is a stage piano so it does not have any speakers in the piano itself. So far I've been playing it with headphones (we're saving up for some nice speakers). This actually works out well with the kids since I can play it and they don't have to hear it! I have been enjoying playing so much more than I did when I was younger. I look forward to sharing this with my children.
Oh, the piano is my Christmas gift from Peter and the kids. It's great to have it early!
Like most kids I wasn't all that keen on practicing daily. I did a program that had me go through books of songs (rather than learn a few songs really well in a year) so sight-reading was something at which I became quite proficient. I also learned to play by chord - very helpful when playing with a worship team. I was never very good at improvising from the chords, though. I blame that on my lack of imagination.
When I moved out for university and then got married the next year, we went without a piano for several years. Once we built our house we inherited a piano, but it was in pretty bad shape, so I didn't play it. With our upcoming move, Peter started selling off some stuff we were not going to use again, including the piano. At the end of it he had enough money to buy me a really nice electric piano!
It is a stage piano so it does not have any speakers in the piano itself. So far I've been playing it with headphones (we're saving up for some nice speakers). This actually works out well with the kids since I can play it and they don't have to hear it! I have been enjoying playing so much more than I did when I was younger. I look forward to sharing this with my children.
Oh, the piano is my Christmas gift from Peter and the kids. It's great to have it early!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hannah - Week 11
Eating and Sleeping
I think Hannah had maybe not a growth spurt, but a need for more food around the middle of the week in order to increase my supply. Over the weekend she ate every 2 hours or so starting at her 1 p.m. feeding until she finally slept well at either her 7 pm or 10 pm feeding. She was also very awake those days as well. Monday I worked to get her back on her schedule (and also felt more 'full' when she would go the full three hours) and the magic happened Monday night. Due to supper plans and a hair appointment that evening, I fed Hannah at 4:30 p.m. (slightly later for her 4:00 feeding) and she ended up staying awake (we were not home) until I fed her again at 6:30 p.m. (before I went to my appointment). Peter put her to bed around 7:30 p.m. and she slept until 5:30 Tuesday morning! I couldn't believe it!
Yesterday, due again to supper plans, I fed her at 6:45 p.m. (early for her 7 p.m. feeding), then again at 8:30 p.m. And, again, she was awake between those feedings. I bathed her after the feeding at 8:30 and then put her down for the night. I had to wake her at 7 this morning to start the day. Talk about amazing!!
I had noticed in this post that her daughter had two feedings just 2 hours apart around supper time starting at 4 months old and that she didn't sleep between the two. I had always wondered how you went to three naps and kept 5 feedings before I saw that. I had already tucked that away in my mind to start moving toward in a few weeks. I only realized this morning that that is effectively what had happened by accident over the past few days. I'm currently reworking her schedule to look something like this:
7:00 a.m. - eat, awake, nap
10:30 a.m. - eat, awake, nap
2:00 p.m. - eat, awake, nap
5:00 p.m. - eat, awake
7:00 p.m. - eat, bath, then bed
She will get the same number of feedings in a day, just spaced a bit differently. She's quite young to go 12 hours without eating so I'm going to see what happens tonight and probably play with the schedule a bit so she's not eating her last feeding until 8 or 8:30 if she seems to need it. That might introduce an extra feeding but I'm ok with that.
Waketime
This week her wake times ranged between 60 and 70 minutes except on the weekend when she spent complete cycles awake. I think we will stick with that except keep her awake for those 2 hours in the early evening. She seems to be much more alert this week - I can see that magical 3-month mark approaching. She's also been a bit more flexible. For example, if we have to transition in the middle of her nap from car seat to crib (she doesn't sleep well in the car seat if she's not in the car moving) she'll occasionally go back to sleep. Previously I would always put her in the swing if that happened. I'm excited for her to be awake over the supper hour. She's almost steady enough to sit in our high chair (it reclines). Until she is, the bouncy seat is where she'll be.
Swaddling
Still swaddling. She still sleeps best when she is swaddled.
Milestones
Hannah came very close to rolling over (back to belly) this week. Her legs fetched her up, which I'm grateful for since she was on the couch. Oops! No more leaving her on the couch to fetch the nursing pillow!
Things from last week
We did well increasing her waketime and I think it was a good idea. She seems much happier going to bed after having a bit more time to play. We also were much more consistent with wake-up time in the morning. A few mornings were 7:30 (if she woke between 5 and 6) but that's within my 7 - 7:30 window.
Things for this week
This is Peter's last full week home before he leaves, so we're going to be on-the-go quite a bit to visit people. My goal for this week is to relax and also to try and figure out how to keep the 10 hours of sleep at night! We'll also see how she does with a full 2 hours of being awake.
I think Hannah had maybe not a growth spurt, but a need for more food around the middle of the week in order to increase my supply. Over the weekend she ate every 2 hours or so starting at her 1 p.m. feeding until she finally slept well at either her 7 pm or 10 pm feeding. She was also very awake those days as well. Monday I worked to get her back on her schedule (and also felt more 'full' when she would go the full three hours) and the magic happened Monday night. Due to supper plans and a hair appointment that evening, I fed Hannah at 4:30 p.m. (slightly later for her 4:00 feeding) and she ended up staying awake (we were not home) until I fed her again at 6:30 p.m. (before I went to my appointment). Peter put her to bed around 7:30 p.m. and she slept until 5:30 Tuesday morning! I couldn't believe it!
Yesterday, due again to supper plans, I fed her at 6:45 p.m. (early for her 7 p.m. feeding), then again at 8:30 p.m. And, again, she was awake between those feedings. I bathed her after the feeding at 8:30 and then put her down for the night. I had to wake her at 7 this morning to start the day. Talk about amazing!!
I had noticed in this post that her daughter had two feedings just 2 hours apart around supper time starting at 4 months old and that she didn't sleep between the two. I had always wondered how you went to three naps and kept 5 feedings before I saw that. I had already tucked that away in my mind to start moving toward in a few weeks. I only realized this morning that that is effectively what had happened by accident over the past few days. I'm currently reworking her schedule to look something like this:
7:00 a.m. - eat, awake, nap
10:30 a.m. - eat, awake, nap
2:00 p.m. - eat, awake, nap
5:00 p.m. - eat, awake
7:00 p.m. - eat, bath, then bed
She will get the same number of feedings in a day, just spaced a bit differently. She's quite young to go 12 hours without eating so I'm going to see what happens tonight and probably play with the schedule a bit so she's not eating her last feeding until 8 or 8:30 if she seems to need it. That might introduce an extra feeding but I'm ok with that.
Waketime
This week her wake times ranged between 60 and 70 minutes except on the weekend when she spent complete cycles awake. I think we will stick with that except keep her awake for those 2 hours in the early evening. She seems to be much more alert this week - I can see that magical 3-month mark approaching. She's also been a bit more flexible. For example, if we have to transition in the middle of her nap from car seat to crib (she doesn't sleep well in the car seat if she's not in the car moving) she'll occasionally go back to sleep. Previously I would always put her in the swing if that happened. I'm excited for her to be awake over the supper hour. She's almost steady enough to sit in our high chair (it reclines). Until she is, the bouncy seat is where she'll be.
Swaddling
Still swaddling. She still sleeps best when she is swaddled.
Milestones
Hannah came very close to rolling over (back to belly) this week. Her legs fetched her up, which I'm grateful for since she was on the couch. Oops! No more leaving her on the couch to fetch the nursing pillow!
Things from last week
We did well increasing her waketime and I think it was a good idea. She seems much happier going to bed after having a bit more time to play. We also were much more consistent with wake-up time in the morning. A few mornings were 7:30 (if she woke between 5 and 6) but that's within my 7 - 7:30 window.
Things for this week
This is Peter's last full week home before he leaves, so we're going to be on-the-go quite a bit to visit people. My goal for this week is to relax and also to try and figure out how to keep the 10 hours of sleep at night! We'll also see how she does with a full 2 hours of being awake.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
10 hours!
So ... last night, as I mentioned in my previous post, we went to my brother's place for supper and then I headed to get my hair cut. I fed Hannah at 6:30 p.m. before we left my brother's house and Peter put her to bed when he got home around 7:30 p.m. She was still sleeping when I got home and I decided not to wake her before I went to bed, just to see what happened. She slept until 5:30 this morning!! I was so shocked. She usually wakes up around 6, so she almost slept until her usual wake-up time.
We had company for supper tonight so her schedule was a bit messed up. I fed her at 8:30 p.m. and then bathed her and put her to bed. I'm going to try not getting her up for her dreamfeed again and see what happens.
We had company for supper tonight so her schedule was a bit messed up. I fed her at 8:30 p.m. and then bathed her and put her to bed. I'm going to try not getting her up for her dreamfeed again and see what happens.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Busy, busy ...
This past weekend was lots of fun. On Saturday Peter took Nathan to see a Bob the Builder show. Needless to say that was a hit! Nathan napped a bit earlier and his nap was cut a bit short to accommodate the show, but it was definitely worth it. It was great for them to have this special time before Peter leaves.
Sunday we had a farewell party with the worship team at our church. Most of our close friends from church were there and it was really nice to have one last get together before we leave. I'll still be around until Peter comes back but it won't be quite the same. Here are some pictures from Sunday afternoon - Nathan had a blast on the four wheeler.
Today started off on a bad note. Mondays are usually my grocery days, so I got up this morning, got myself and the kids ready, and drove Peter to work. From there I went directly to the grocery store, only to be told it was closed, today only, for renovations! So frustrating. I went to another store in the city but it's not the same when I'm not shopping at my 'regular' place. It was nice to get a real grocery order, though. The past few weeks I've been winging it for meals which I find very stressful.
We went to my brother's house for supper. Yum! It was really nice to get to have dinner with he and his girlfriend, and very nice to not have to cook this evening! Peter's coworker and her husband are coming for supper tomorrow night that will be nice. The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow so we'll enjoy a barbeque.
I also got my hair cut tonight ... and I love it! I've kept it quite long over the past 6 or 7 months and now that Hannah's here and my face has lost it's puffy look I decided it was time to chop it off. That, in addition to some highlights, makes for a great pick-me-up.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tummy time
This is something that I struggled with with Nathan and swore I would be better at with subsequent children. I find myself, however, in the exact same spot with Hannah. I dislike doing tummy time with her for a few reasons.
First - she hates it! She screams most times I put her on her tummy. I've tried doing it right after she eats and later in her wake time as I worried a full tummy might be the problem. It doesn't seem to matter.
Second - we have a very hard floor (tile and laminate over concrete). I've tried putting those foam mats down and then a blanket or mat, but when she bounces her head up and down (crying, of course) it looks so painful!
Third - I never know where to position a blanket / pillow under her chest to help keep her head from banging off the floor. I've read you can do it and her activity mat even came with a little pillow to help with it, but she always looks so uncomfortable with it - either her head hangs past it or it just rests on it. She also tends to push forward with her legs when she's on her tummy so eventually the pillow ends up near her stomach.
So, all of those combined (especially the first two) cause me to put off doing tummy time. I know it's supposed to be important for them to develop head and neck muscles, etc ... but I just don't have the heart to do it that often! I try to do at least a couple of minutes every day but it doesn't always happen. I wonder if his lack of tummy time is why Nathan never crawled?
If I make any breakthroughs in this area I'll keep you posted and if anyone has any ideas they would be much appreciated!
First - she hates it! She screams most times I put her on her tummy. I've tried doing it right after she eats and later in her wake time as I worried a full tummy might be the problem. It doesn't seem to matter.
Second - we have a very hard floor (tile and laminate over concrete). I've tried putting those foam mats down and then a blanket or mat, but when she bounces her head up and down (crying, of course) it looks so painful!
Third - I never know where to position a blanket / pillow under her chest to help keep her head from banging off the floor. I've read you can do it and her activity mat even came with a little pillow to help with it, but she always looks so uncomfortable with it - either her head hangs past it or it just rests on it. She also tends to push forward with her legs when she's on her tummy so eventually the pillow ends up near her stomach.
So, all of those combined (especially the first two) cause me to put off doing tummy time. I know it's supposed to be important for them to develop head and neck muscles, etc ... but I just don't have the heart to do it that often! I try to do at least a couple of minutes every day but it doesn't always happen. I wonder if his lack of tummy time is why Nathan never crawled?
If I make any breakthroughs in this area I'll keep you posted and if anyone has any ideas they would be much appreciated!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Progress?
I realized as I was running the other night that I'm up to running for a total of 15 minutes! Wow - how did that happen? It's still in 3-minutes spurts, but it's progress. I'm still at 3.5 mph for the walking portion and 6 mph for the running. I also leave the treadmill on an incline of 1 just because I remember reading once that it better simulates being outside. This week I walk for 2 minutes, run for 3, and repeat it 5 times.
I had been getting quite discouraged because, until a few days ago, I was still up a pound from what I had lost that first week. However, about 2 days ago I hit that weight again, and this morning I was down another pound - yay! I now have 9 / 14 / 19 pounds left to lose depending on which goal I'm looking at :) It's nice to be in single digits for my first goal!
Nathan finally started saying 'yep, mama,' which is close enough for me! I was playing with him this morning getting him to repeat what I said, and I slipped in 'yep' then 'mama' as the next word, and then we did the two words together. I really find sometimes he doesn't seem to know how to do two words in a row if he doesn't do them separately first. So far I'm not sure he understands the implications of saying it back to me after an instruction, but we'll keep working on that.
We have a house showing tonight, so this morning has been busy with cleaning. Thankfully the upstairs is all done and the downstairs just needs a bit of tidying up and a good sweep. It will be nice to have a really clean and tidy house for the weekend!
Ooo ... I keep forgetting to mention that this month now has 11 posts ... my previous maximum for any single month was 9! I've already passed the total number of posts for 2008 - very sad.
I had been getting quite discouraged because, until a few days ago, I was still up a pound from what I had lost that first week. However, about 2 days ago I hit that weight again, and this morning I was down another pound - yay! I now have 9 / 14 / 19 pounds left to lose depending on which goal I'm looking at :) It's nice to be in single digits for my first goal!
Nathan finally started saying 'yep, mama,' which is close enough for me! I was playing with him this morning getting him to repeat what I said, and I slipped in 'yep' then 'mama' as the next word, and then we did the two words together. I really find sometimes he doesn't seem to know how to do two words in a row if he doesn't do them separately first. So far I'm not sure he understands the implications of saying it back to me after an instruction, but we'll keep working on that.
We have a house showing tonight, so this morning has been busy with cleaning. Thankfully the upstairs is all done and the downstairs just needs a bit of tidying up and a good sweep. It will be nice to have a really clean and tidy house for the weekend!
Ooo ... I keep forgetting to mention that this month now has 11 posts ... my previous maximum for any single month was 9! I've already passed the total number of posts for 2008 - very sad.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Overwhelmed ... plus some 'to dos'
I ordered 4 new books the other day. This is unusual for me in that I hardly ever buy books. I tend to borrow from the library or friends instead (Peter calls me a book-moocher). Anyway, having used my Babywise book until it is showing signs of wear I figured ordering a few more from the series might be helpful. I ordered Babywise II (5 - 12 months), Toddlerwise (1 - 2 years), Childwise (3 - 7 years), and Potty Training 1-2-3. They arrived on Tuesday and I have skimmed through all of them. As a result I am on information overload!!
My first impression is that Nathan is kind of in 'no man's land' with the -wise series. The Toddlerwise book really focuses on 12 - 24 months, while most of the stuff in Childwise focuses on after the child can understand moral reasoning, which they say starts around their third birthday. I'm a little disappointed none of the books deal specifically with the age 2 - 3 (perhaps Preschoolwise would?) but there are enough things in Toddlerwise that I'd like to try and do that I'm sure we'll have lots to work on, in addition to preparing myself mentally for the work that will be required when I get to Childwise stuff.
The two things that stuck out that I'd like to work on right away are: 'yes, mommy' and hand folding. 'Yes, mommy' means that when I instruct Nathan to do something (eye contact is important here) that he will reply with that answer and then go and do what I've instructed. I'm trying really hard to use the word 'instructed' instead of 'asked' since I tend to end my instructions with '... okay?' Although Nathan's response lately has been and emphatic 'Okay' (a new word for him), I don't want him to ever think that what I'm telling him to do is optional. I'm working hard to instructing rather than asking. I started yesterday trying to get him to respond with 'yes, mommy' but I'm not having much luck at the moment. He will usually do what I tell him to but has not yet said 'yes, mommy.' He will often say 'please' since I think that's what he thinks he's supposed to say. We'll keep working on it ... any tips are welcome!
The second thing I want to work on is when Nathan is starting to lose control. The books say that at those moments I should tell him to fold his hands to get back some self-control. I was very skeptical of this ... it sounds a bit ridiculous! Having read some success stories and figuring there was nothing to lose I tried it at lunch today. Nathan had decided not to eat (natural consequences coming up when he gets up from his nap and is hungry I'm sure) but he was required to stay at the table while I finished. He started getting upset and repeating 'down, down ... ' over and over. I showed him how to fold his hands and told him to do that to get back his self-control. To my amazement, as soon as his hands were folded he calmed down and sat there smiling sweetly at me until I finished (in just a couple of minutes)! I really hope it wasn't a fluke!
Those are the two ideas that stuck out from Toddlerwise that I wanted to implement immediately. I'm sure there will be more when I re-read it more carefully. There is so much in the books that I want to make sure to do (the content is great while the editing is *terrible* - worst books I've ever read for grammar mistakes!!) that I definitely have to read them several times.
One more note on Nathan ... remember me mentioning in another post, just a short week ago, that Nathan hadn't figured out how to open doors yet? Well, I think I jinxed myself. He figured it out today. So far he did well and went right to sleep at nap time ... we'll see if additional training is needed in when it is appropriate for him to open his door and when it's not.
My first impression is that Nathan is kind of in 'no man's land' with the -wise series. The Toddlerwise book really focuses on 12 - 24 months, while most of the stuff in Childwise focuses on after the child can understand moral reasoning, which they say starts around their third birthday. I'm a little disappointed none of the books deal specifically with the age 2 - 3 (perhaps Preschoolwise would?) but there are enough things in Toddlerwise that I'd like to try and do that I'm sure we'll have lots to work on, in addition to preparing myself mentally for the work that will be required when I get to Childwise stuff.
The two things that stuck out that I'd like to work on right away are: 'yes, mommy' and hand folding. 'Yes, mommy' means that when I instruct Nathan to do something (eye contact is important here) that he will reply with that answer and then go and do what I've instructed. I'm trying really hard to use the word 'instructed' instead of 'asked' since I tend to end my instructions with '... okay?' Although Nathan's response lately has been and emphatic 'Okay' (a new word for him), I don't want him to ever think that what I'm telling him to do is optional. I'm working hard to instructing rather than asking. I started yesterday trying to get him to respond with 'yes, mommy' but I'm not having much luck at the moment. He will usually do what I tell him to but has not yet said 'yes, mommy.' He will often say 'please' since I think that's what he thinks he's supposed to say. We'll keep working on it ... any tips are welcome!
The second thing I want to work on is when Nathan is starting to lose control. The books say that at those moments I should tell him to fold his hands to get back some self-control. I was very skeptical of this ... it sounds a bit ridiculous! Having read some success stories and figuring there was nothing to lose I tried it at lunch today. Nathan had decided not to eat (natural consequences coming up when he gets up from his nap and is hungry I'm sure) but he was required to stay at the table while I finished. He started getting upset and repeating 'down, down ... ' over and over. I showed him how to fold his hands and told him to do that to get back his self-control. To my amazement, as soon as his hands were folded he calmed down and sat there smiling sweetly at me until I finished (in just a couple of minutes)! I really hope it wasn't a fluke!
Those are the two ideas that stuck out from Toddlerwise that I wanted to implement immediately. I'm sure there will be more when I re-read it more carefully. There is so much in the books that I want to make sure to do (the content is great while the editing is *terrible* - worst books I've ever read for grammar mistakes!!) that I definitely have to read them several times.
One more note on Nathan ... remember me mentioning in another post, just a short week ago, that Nathan hadn't figured out how to open doors yet? Well, I think I jinxed myself. He figured it out today. So far he did well and went right to sleep at nap time ... we'll see if additional training is needed in when it is appropriate for him to open his door and when it's not.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Hannah - Week 10
Eating and Sleeping
Hannah has continued to follow the same eating schedule as last week (every 3 hours starting at 7 am). I must admit I'm lax about that start time - often it's 7:30 and one morning this week it was 8:30! I really need to work on that as it's so important to start at the same time every day.
The big news has been in sleeping - Hannah slept through until her wake time (7) 3 times this week! The other days she woke somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30, so still much better than she was doing before. I'm not sure what to do when she wakes at those times, since I have to feed her, but then I usually put her back down and we start our day around 7.
Her napping this week hasn't been great. She is going down pretty well for most naps but has woken early usually once or twice a day. She doesn't seem hungry as she'll settle right down in the swing (but not sleep until right before she's due to eat again - of course!). I think she might be ready for longer wake times. She is a very happy baby when she's awake and loves looking around at everything. She'll also lay awake in her crib (I only know this from occasional times when she's sleeping somewhere other than home since at home her door squeaks too much to open it to check!)
Waketime
This week her wake times ranged between 45 and 60 minutes. I think next week I'll aim for 60 - 70 minutes. I tried to do that yesterday morning and she fell asleep in her bouncy seat right at the 60 minute mark! lol. Perhaps the morning wake times will be right at 60 minutes and afternoon / evening closer to 70. We continued to incorporate tummy time (which she hates) and she still loves her activity mat. I've also put her in her bouncy seat in front of the window most mornings - she loves to look outside. We've been able to start taking walks outside the past few days - the mosquitoes have calmed down a bit. I usually start the walk when she's due to nap since I assumed she would sleep. However, she seems to stay alert for the first half of the walk, so I may have to start the walk right after she eats.
Eyes
Hannah's eyes still have a bit of discharge but it does seem better than it was.
Swaddling
Still swaddling. The naps she sleeps the best for are the ones where she stays in her swaddle the whole time.
Milestones
Nothing big this week. She's laughing and cooing more and more every day, which I am loving!
Things for next week
I'd like to increase her wake time to about 60 - 70 minutes. I want to be more consistent with our wake-up time in the mornings.
This weekend was tough at the lake. It opened my eyes to what the summer will be like with lots of family around. The bedroom walls don't go to the ceiling so noise travels from room to room very easily. When Hannah would cry during a nap time someone would go pick her up and if she was quiet they would open the door to see what was going on (we did find out that she laid awake quietly for the last hour of her nap one time!). That often wakes her up so she didn't really get any good sleep while we were there. There is another room I could put her in that would be more removed from the action and I think I'll definitely have to do that in the future. My next challenge - finding a monitor that will work from the cottage to the shore. Anyone know any long distance (i.e. 300') monitors?? I would really like to be able to take Nathan down to the water while she sleeps.
Hannah has continued to follow the same eating schedule as last week (every 3 hours starting at 7 am). I must admit I'm lax about that start time - often it's 7:30 and one morning this week it was 8:30! I really need to work on that as it's so important to start at the same time every day.
The big news has been in sleeping - Hannah slept through until her wake time (7) 3 times this week! The other days she woke somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30, so still much better than she was doing before. I'm not sure what to do when she wakes at those times, since I have to feed her, but then I usually put her back down and we start our day around 7.
Her napping this week hasn't been great. She is going down pretty well for most naps but has woken early usually once or twice a day. She doesn't seem hungry as she'll settle right down in the swing (but not sleep until right before she's due to eat again - of course!). I think she might be ready for longer wake times. She is a very happy baby when she's awake and loves looking around at everything. She'll also lay awake in her crib (I only know this from occasional times when she's sleeping somewhere other than home since at home her door squeaks too much to open it to check!)
Waketime
This week her wake times ranged between 45 and 60 minutes. I think next week I'll aim for 60 - 70 minutes. I tried to do that yesterday morning and she fell asleep in her bouncy seat right at the 60 minute mark! lol. Perhaps the morning wake times will be right at 60 minutes and afternoon / evening closer to 70. We continued to incorporate tummy time (which she hates) and she still loves her activity mat. I've also put her in her bouncy seat in front of the window most mornings - she loves to look outside. We've been able to start taking walks outside the past few days - the mosquitoes have calmed down a bit. I usually start the walk when she's due to nap since I assumed she would sleep. However, she seems to stay alert for the first half of the walk, so I may have to start the walk right after she eats.
Eyes
Hannah's eyes still have a bit of discharge but it does seem better than it was.
Swaddling
Still swaddling. The naps she sleeps the best for are the ones where she stays in her swaddle the whole time.
Milestones
Nothing big this week. She's laughing and cooing more and more every day, which I am loving!
Things for next week
I'd like to increase her wake time to about 60 - 70 minutes. I want to be more consistent with our wake-up time in the mornings.
This weekend was tough at the lake. It opened my eyes to what the summer will be like with lots of family around. The bedroom walls don't go to the ceiling so noise travels from room to room very easily. When Hannah would cry during a nap time someone would go pick her up and if she was quiet they would open the door to see what was going on (we did find out that she laid awake quietly for the last hour of her nap one time!). That often wakes her up so she didn't really get any good sleep while we were there. There is another room I could put her in that would be more removed from the action and I think I'll definitely have to do that in the future. My next challenge - finding a monitor that will work from the cottage to the shore. Anyone know any long distance (i.e. 300') monitors?? I would really like to be able to take Nathan down to the water while she sleeps.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Blessing Hannah
Yesterday we had Hannah's blessing day at church. It is a tradition in our church, following the example of Simeon blessing Jesus and his family when he was a baby (Luke 2). We were so excited to have all our family here to witness this special time and Hannah did great (I was so worried she would cry!). She didn't even make a peep when I handed her over to the pastor while he prayed for her. Apparently she was smiling at the pastor as he talked before I passed her to him but I couldn't see from my perspective.
Both our kids' names come from their Biblical counterparts (Nathan was a prophet and an adviser / friend to King David - first mentioned in 2 Samuel 7). We named Hannah after the Biblical character in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. I want them to know why / how we chose their names - because we admired and want our children to emulate the character of these specific people from the Old Testament. I would love to find some way to incorporate their Biblical heritage into a wall hanging of some sort for their rooms but haven't figured out how to do that yet.
Both our kids' names come from their Biblical counterparts (Nathan was a prophet and an adviser / friend to King David - first mentioned in 2 Samuel 7). We named Hannah after the Biblical character in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. I want them to know why / how we chose their names - because we admired and want our children to emulate the character of these specific people from the Old Testament. I would love to find some way to incorporate their Biblical heritage into a wall hanging of some sort for their rooms but haven't figured out how to do that yet.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
First day at the cottage
We spent our first day at the cottage for the this year (first of many for me and the kids - I'm hoping to spend lots and lots of time there this summer) today and we couldn't have asked for better weather! It felt like a day in mid-summer. That made it very hard to leave at the end of the day, but we enjoyed the time we did get to spend there. The guys spent the morning getting things put back together after the high waters of winter and the afternoon playing with the sea-doo that Mom and Dad bought last year. Even Nathan got his turn.
There were quite a few boats out today considering the time of year. Every time one would go by Nathan would point and say 'boat.' Can't you almost see the 'b' sound on his lips in this picture?
He wasn't as fond of the waves the boats made, though.When he wasn't pointing out boats in the water, Nathan was picking up rocks from the beach and throwing them into the water. Each time one landed he would say 'splash.' It was too cute. The bigger the rock the better he liked it!
We are back home now after a wonderful day with family. I'm a bit sunburned but thankfully the kids are good. Nathan was so wired from the day that he didn't even fall asleep on the way home. Hannah basically didn't sleep while we were there so she's due for a good sleep tonight.
On the way to the cottage Peter and I had a good discussion about what's important to us as parents regarding faith, education, and physical health (the idea to talk these things through came from here). I don't want to do 'accidental' or reactive parenting, so I'm really excited to have some steps to take to reach specific goals. Now for the implementation :)
Friday, June 5, 2009
This and that
I don't really have a theme for this post, just a few random things I wanted to remember for the future.
Nathan is at such a fun age (really, they've all been fun except perhaps the first three months). He's getting to the point where he can 'help' me with cooking and cleaning things, which is great as it means he's not upset if I'm doing that stuff instead of playing with him. As you saw in a previous post he helped make chocolate chip cookies last week (we've been making a lot of chocolate chip cookies for house showings!) and this week he helped make pizza. I gave him the leftover pizza dough and he patted it out before his nap. We put it on a pan to let it finish rising while he napped. When he got up he spread the sauce on the crust and we put it in the oven for 7 minutes (I always start cooking my crusts before I load them up with toppings). Then while I put the toppings on the two big pizzas he was supposed to put them on his ... but he decided he would rather eat the toppings instead so I had to help him. It was so fun to watch him get excited about making his own supper! I'm excited to do this more often with him as he grows. I figure I'm doing his future wife a favour if I get him familiar with the kitchen now ;) Hmmm ... what's next ... laundry? lol.
Well, despite my excitement over losing 2 lbs and despite my continued efforts on the treadmill I have managed to gain back a pound this week. *sigh* I keep reminding myself that in the past it has taken a month to see any real results from a workout plan, but it's still discouraging. I started week 4 of the walk-to-jog plan yesterday, where I have to walk 3 minutes, then jog 3 minutes and repeat that 4 times. I've been walking at 3.5 mph and jogging at 6 mph (for my own records later). I find each workout very challenging but it's amazing that I haven't quit on any of them yet. Yay!
School is continuing on. Next week marks the halfway point of the course. I finished up one of my four assignments this week. Our major assignment is a group project that we've been working on fairly steadily. I'm really hoping things will start to come together on it over the next week. I don't want to be worrying too much about it after Peter leaves.
Hannah has been doing great sleeping overnight this week! She slept until her wake-up time two out of the last three nights and the other night she slept until 5:30, so still a fair amount of time from her 10 pm feed. Hopefully I don't jinx it by mentioning it here!
Nathan is at such a fun age (really, they've all been fun except perhaps the first three months). He's getting to the point where he can 'help' me with cooking and cleaning things, which is great as it means he's not upset if I'm doing that stuff instead of playing with him. As you saw in a previous post he helped make chocolate chip cookies last week (we've been making a lot of chocolate chip cookies for house showings!) and this week he helped make pizza. I gave him the leftover pizza dough and he patted it out before his nap. We put it on a pan to let it finish rising while he napped. When he got up he spread the sauce on the crust and we put it in the oven for 7 minutes (I always start cooking my crusts before I load them up with toppings). Then while I put the toppings on the two big pizzas he was supposed to put them on his ... but he decided he would rather eat the toppings instead so I had to help him. It was so fun to watch him get excited about making his own supper! I'm excited to do this more often with him as he grows. I figure I'm doing his future wife a favour if I get him familiar with the kitchen now ;) Hmmm ... what's next ... laundry? lol.
Well, despite my excitement over losing 2 lbs and despite my continued efforts on the treadmill I have managed to gain back a pound this week. *sigh* I keep reminding myself that in the past it has taken a month to see any real results from a workout plan, but it's still discouraging. I started week 4 of the walk-to-jog plan yesterday, where I have to walk 3 minutes, then jog 3 minutes and repeat that 4 times. I've been walking at 3.5 mph and jogging at 6 mph (for my own records later). I find each workout very challenging but it's amazing that I haven't quit on any of them yet. Yay!
School is continuing on. Next week marks the halfway point of the course. I finished up one of my four assignments this week. Our major assignment is a group project that we've been working on fairly steadily. I'm really hoping things will start to come together on it over the next week. I don't want to be worrying too much about it after Peter leaves.
Hannah has been doing great sleeping overnight this week! She slept until her wake-up time two out of the last three nights and the other night she slept until 5:30, so still a fair amount of time from her 10 pm feed. Hopefully I don't jinx it by mentioning it here!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Dunkaroos for breakfast
Why did Nathan have Dunkaroos for breakfast? (For the uninitiated, Dunkaroos are little snack containers with cookies in one compartment and icing in which to dip the cookies in a second compartment.) This is not normal breakfast fare at our house but this morning was special - Nathan used the potty for the first time ever!
We've been slowly easing into the idea of potty training since we know we have a big move coming up and it's not the best time to go at it hard core. We typically just get him to sit on the potty when we think of it and don't stress about it too much. He loves to sit on the potty when he's fully clothed ... not so much when his diaper is off.
This morning when I got him up I could tell he needed to pee (his diaper was almost dry) so I told him if he would sit on the potty I would read him his favourite book of all time, The Topsy Turvy Kingdom. It is a long book so I hoped while we were reading it he would just go, and he did! It was so funny because he looked down with a puzzled look just before he went.
This is uncharted territory for us. Should be interesting! I'm still not going to stress about it until we're settled at Mom and Dad's, but at least now he knows what he's supposed to do on the potty!
We've been slowly easing into the idea of potty training since we know we have a big move coming up and it's not the best time to go at it hard core. We typically just get him to sit on the potty when we think of it and don't stress about it too much. He loves to sit on the potty when he's fully clothed ... not so much when his diaper is off.
This morning when I got him up I could tell he needed to pee (his diaper was almost dry) so I told him if he would sit on the potty I would read him his favourite book of all time, The Topsy Turvy Kingdom. It is a long book so I hoped while we were reading it he would just go, and he did! It was so funny because he looked down with a puzzled look just before he went.
This is uncharted territory for us. Should be interesting! I'm still not going to stress about it until we're settled at Mom and Dad's, but at least now he knows what he's supposed to do on the potty!
Current schedule
I've spent some time over the last month or so trying to find a schedule that works for our family. During the first month of Hannah's life I found that I was too often neglecting Nathan during the day, so much that he would get bored eventually and start getting into stuff he knows he is not allowed to play with. He's such an 'easy' toddler and is great a amusing himself but he still has limits on how long I can let him play by himself. I began reading a blog that talked quite a bit about what categories of activities a toddler should have in his day and started to think about how to make it work for me.
The constant in our day is that Nathan naps somewhere between 12:30 and 3:30 for 2 hours. I also knew I needed Hannah to be on a 3-hour schedule and that I wanted some one-on-one time with each of them throughout the day. A new thing I added to Nathan's schedule is called 'independent play time.' This is a time for him to play on his own in his room. It will help him learn to play without me always interfering and fixing things for him when he gets stuck. The first day or two of this were tough, as Nathan would cry when I would shut the door and periodically pull at his door handle (as an aside - thank goodness he hasn't figured out how to open doors yet!). This only lasted for about 2 days, though, and now as long as he has his favourite toys (his cars and little garage) in his room he smiles as I leave. Yippee! He does independent play for 90 minutes most mornings.
Here is our current schedule, but it is always subject to change!
7:00 am --> Up and feed Hannah, Nathan up and dressed, breakfast for Nathan and I. Hannah goes down for her nap somewhere between 7:45 and 8:00 am.
9:30 am --> One-on-one time with Nathan.
10:00 am --> Independent play time for Nathan in his room. Get Hannah up to eat. Tummy time for her.
11:00 am --> Nap for Hannah.
11:30 am --> Independent play time ends for Nathan. We usually do some laundry right after this since we're already upstairs.
12:00 pm --> Lunch for Nathan and I.
1:00 pm --> Nathan goes down for his nap. Hannah up to eat.
1:30 pm --> One-on-one time with Hannah.
2:00 pm --> Hannah down for a nap. This is my own free time :)
3:00 pm --> Nathan up from his nap. If he's really tired I'll let him sleep a bit longer.
4:00 pm --> Hannah up to eat. Independent play time for her (usually either in pack and play or on activity mat). She goes down for her nap around 5:00 pm.
4:30 pm --> Supper preparation, supper, clean up.
6:30 pm --> Nathan bath and jammies.
7:00 pm --> Hannah up to eat, then bath.
8:00 pm --> Both kids in bed. Sigh of relief :) haha.
10:00 pm --> Dreamfeed (wake Hannah to eat, diaper change, and straight back to bed).
I had to make this schedule so I can do it by myself, since Peter is heading away in less than three weeks. Otherwise I would have put both baths at the same time and we would have done them together.
My original schedule had their naps / independent play time overlapping much more so that I had 3 1/2 hours where they were simultaneously occupied every day. However, I felt that I wasn't getting enough one-on-one time with either of them when I did that, so I like this schedule better.
I just ordered Babywise II, Toddlerwise, Childwise, and a potty training book by Gary Ezzo so when they come I'm planning to start adding in other elements to Nathan's day. I've read a few of them on the blog I mentioned above but wanted to get a basic schedule down first.
And ... starting to potty training with Nathan after we move. Fun, fun! At least I can do it in the summer where fewer clothes need to be removed. lol. I'm sure there will be many posts dedicated to this effort in the coming months. If anyone has any tips I would be grateful to hear them.
The constant in our day is that Nathan naps somewhere between 12:30 and 3:30 for 2 hours. I also knew I needed Hannah to be on a 3-hour schedule and that I wanted some one-on-one time with each of them throughout the day. A new thing I added to Nathan's schedule is called 'independent play time.' This is a time for him to play on his own in his room. It will help him learn to play without me always interfering and fixing things for him when he gets stuck. The first day or two of this were tough, as Nathan would cry when I would shut the door and periodically pull at his door handle (as an aside - thank goodness he hasn't figured out how to open doors yet!). This only lasted for about 2 days, though, and now as long as he has his favourite toys (his cars and little garage) in his room he smiles as I leave. Yippee! He does independent play for 90 minutes most mornings.
Here is our current schedule, but it is always subject to change!
7:00 am --> Up and feed Hannah, Nathan up and dressed, breakfast for Nathan and I. Hannah goes down for her nap somewhere between 7:45 and 8:00 am.
9:30 am --> One-on-one time with Nathan.
10:00 am --> Independent play time for Nathan in his room. Get Hannah up to eat. Tummy time for her.
11:00 am --> Nap for Hannah.
11:30 am --> Independent play time ends for Nathan. We usually do some laundry right after this since we're already upstairs.
12:00 pm --> Lunch for Nathan and I.
1:00 pm --> Nathan goes down for his nap. Hannah up to eat.
1:30 pm --> One-on-one time with Hannah.
2:00 pm --> Hannah down for a nap. This is my own free time :)
3:00 pm --> Nathan up from his nap. If he's really tired I'll let him sleep a bit longer.
4:00 pm --> Hannah up to eat. Independent play time for her (usually either in pack and play or on activity mat). She goes down for her nap around 5:00 pm.
4:30 pm --> Supper preparation, supper, clean up.
6:30 pm --> Nathan bath and jammies.
7:00 pm --> Hannah up to eat, then bath.
8:00 pm --> Both kids in bed. Sigh of relief :) haha.
10:00 pm --> Dreamfeed (wake Hannah to eat, diaper change, and straight back to bed).
I had to make this schedule so I can do it by myself, since Peter is heading away in less than three weeks. Otherwise I would have put both baths at the same time and we would have done them together.
My original schedule had their naps / independent play time overlapping much more so that I had 3 1/2 hours where they were simultaneously occupied every day. However, I felt that I wasn't getting enough one-on-one time with either of them when I did that, so I like this schedule better.
I just ordered Babywise II, Toddlerwise, Childwise, and a potty training book by Gary Ezzo so when they come I'm planning to start adding in other elements to Nathan's day. I've read a few of them on the blog I mentioned above but wanted to get a basic schedule down first.
And ... starting to potty training with Nathan after we move. Fun, fun! At least I can do it in the summer where fewer clothes need to be removed. lol. I'm sure there will be many posts dedicated to this effort in the coming months. If anyone has any tips I would be grateful to hear them.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
2 months old already?
Wow - I can't believe Hannah is already two months old. I feel like time is moving much more quickly this time around. I remember 6 - 10 weeks being a tough time with Nathan as a baby, but they haven't even really been a blip on Hannah's radar so far.
Of course on the occasion of her two-month birthday she got to have her needles at the doctor. That also meant she was weighed and measured. She now weighs 11 lbs 4 1/2 oz and is 23 3/4" long! She's a growing girl! If I needed any confirmation that she's eating well a gain of almost 3 lbs and 3" in 2 months is definitely it.
Nathan did really well when Hannah got her needles. He was very worried about her when the doctor was checking her over. He kept trying to get out of his stroller and go over to her. When it came time for the needles I made sure he couldn't see her and he was fine with it.
I didn't get any pictures on her actual 2-month 'birthday' but I took some yesterday. She's definitely suffering from 'second child syndrome' as far as the number of pictures we take of her! It didn't help that Peter's camera batteries died shortly after she was born. He finally replaced them last week so hopefully that will lead to more photo ops in the next couple of weeks before he goes away.
Here are the top three of the pictures I took. As you can see she was in a good mood!
See how short this 'dress' is on her?? She's a tall girl!
Of course on the occasion of her two-month birthday she got to have her needles at the doctor. That also meant she was weighed and measured. She now weighs 11 lbs 4 1/2 oz and is 23 3/4" long! She's a growing girl! If I needed any confirmation that she's eating well a gain of almost 3 lbs and 3" in 2 months is definitely it.
Nathan did really well when Hannah got her needles. He was very worried about her when the doctor was checking her over. He kept trying to get out of his stroller and go over to her. When it came time for the needles I made sure he couldn't see her and he was fine with it.
I didn't get any pictures on her actual 2-month 'birthday' but I took some yesterday. She's definitely suffering from 'second child syndrome' as far as the number of pictures we take of her! It didn't help that Peter's camera batteries died shortly after she was born. He finally replaced them last week so hopefully that will lead to more photo ops in the next couple of weeks before he goes away.
Here are the top three of the pictures I took. As you can see she was in a good mood!
See how short this 'dress' is on her?? She's a tall girl! 
Hannah - Week 9
I've seen newborn summaries week by week on a few other blogs and thought it was a great idea! Things change so quickly when they're young that having this to look back on will be very useful :)
Hannah turned two months old this week - hard to believe! This was a good week overall for her. I remember with Nathan weeks 6 through 10 were his most difficult. For Hannah I would have to say her first month was much harder than her second.
Eating and Sleeping
I have followed Babywise with her pretty much since birth since it worked well for Nathan (and is what my Mom calls 'common sense'! lol). The basics are just that I've spent the last two months making sure Hannah's day has a sense of routine where she eats approximately every 2 1/2 - 3 hours, stays up for a few minutes to play, and then has a nap until her next feeding time.
This week I moved her to a full 3-hour routine. She eats at 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, and 10 pm. She generally still wakes up once during the night, usually between 3 and 4 am. Since she's still young I'm ok with that feeding remaining in place for a few more weeks if she needs it. She did actually sleep through the night twice this week, but once her 10 pm feeding was pushed until midnight as I fell asleep on the couch. I'll have another post soon with details of my schedule with the two kids - it's trickier than I thought it would be trying to get their schedules meshed.
Hannah is a great eater, and very fast - she generally only takes about 15 minutes total to eat (probably 10 minutes on the first side, 5 on the second). With Nathan I made sure he spent a full 30 minutes eating every nursing period, but I learned from my sister who took a breastfeeding class that that's not necessary for every baby. It's made me much less stressed about feeding her. At her two-month appointment she had gained lots and is growing, so we're going to stick with what's working!
Waketime
Hannah could handle between 45 and 60 minutes of waketime total this week. 45 minutes was usually for the first 2 cycles and 60 minutes for the rest of the day. With our new schedule I've been making sure I get at least two one-on-one waketimes just with her to do tummy time and read, etc ... This is in addition to her daily bath. It's been fun to see her really start to enjoy her activity mat this week. She's also laughed a few times and started to coo - too much fun! This was the first week she really seemed to focus when I read her a book, too. Overall, a very interactive week for her.
Eyes
Hannah has been dealing with some eye discharge pretty much since birth. I tried antibiotic drops on the advice of the 24-hour hotline and just stopped them today, so we'll see what happens next. The doctor said if they didn't clear it up that it was just due to blocked tear ducts.
Swaddling
We still swaddle Hannah for pretty much every nap and at night. I've tried leaving her completely unswaddled for a few naps as well as leaving one arm out of the swaddle at other times. It's hit or miss whether she'll sleep well unswaddled for naps, but she can't even handle one arm out at night so we'll keep swaddling for now. She's so good about going to sleep on her own and staying asleep that I don't want to mess with it.
Milestones
As I mentioned above, Hannah started cooing and laughing this week. She's been smiling since about 6 weeks old and we enjoy every one of them. She can follow toys with her eyes when she's alert and she's starting to reach out to bat at her toys on her activity mat. It's so fun to watch her concentrate. This week we worked on getting more tummy time in and she started to stay there for about 7 minutes before she screamed. She's always been quite strong and can hold her head and upper torso fairly steady.
Things for next week
I'd like to keep track of things I want to try / work on with her. This week I'd really like to work on more tummy time and possible start working on rolling over tummy to back. I am enjoying the two one-on-one waketimes per day and want to continue that as much as possible. I also want to keep her eating times as consistent as possible so that hopefully she'll sleep longer stretches at night.
I think that's our week in a nutshell. Our routine has been messed up a few days because of house showings, but we don't complain about those. Still praying that the house sells before Peter has to leave at the end of the month! We had people through tonight that want some more details on the house, so I think that's a good sign.
Hannah turned two months old this week - hard to believe! This was a good week overall for her. I remember with Nathan weeks 6 through 10 were his most difficult. For Hannah I would have to say her first month was much harder than her second.
Eating and Sleeping
I have followed Babywise with her pretty much since birth since it worked well for Nathan (and is what my Mom calls 'common sense'! lol). The basics are just that I've spent the last two months making sure Hannah's day has a sense of routine where she eats approximately every 2 1/2 - 3 hours, stays up for a few minutes to play, and then has a nap until her next feeding time.
This week I moved her to a full 3-hour routine. She eats at 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, and 10 pm. She generally still wakes up once during the night, usually between 3 and 4 am. Since she's still young I'm ok with that feeding remaining in place for a few more weeks if she needs it. She did actually sleep through the night twice this week, but once her 10 pm feeding was pushed until midnight as I fell asleep on the couch. I'll have another post soon with details of my schedule with the two kids - it's trickier than I thought it would be trying to get their schedules meshed.
Hannah is a great eater, and very fast - she generally only takes about 15 minutes total to eat (probably 10 minutes on the first side, 5 on the second). With Nathan I made sure he spent a full 30 minutes eating every nursing period, but I learned from my sister who took a breastfeeding class that that's not necessary for every baby. It's made me much less stressed about feeding her. At her two-month appointment she had gained lots and is growing, so we're going to stick with what's working!
Waketime
Hannah could handle between 45 and 60 minutes of waketime total this week. 45 minutes was usually for the first 2 cycles and 60 minutes for the rest of the day. With our new schedule I've been making sure I get at least two one-on-one waketimes just with her to do tummy time and read, etc ... This is in addition to her daily bath. It's been fun to see her really start to enjoy her activity mat this week. She's also laughed a few times and started to coo - too much fun! This was the first week she really seemed to focus when I read her a book, too. Overall, a very interactive week for her.
Eyes
Hannah has been dealing with some eye discharge pretty much since birth. I tried antibiotic drops on the advice of the 24-hour hotline and just stopped them today, so we'll see what happens next. The doctor said if they didn't clear it up that it was just due to blocked tear ducts.
Swaddling
We still swaddle Hannah for pretty much every nap and at night. I've tried leaving her completely unswaddled for a few naps as well as leaving one arm out of the swaddle at other times. It's hit or miss whether she'll sleep well unswaddled for naps, but she can't even handle one arm out at night so we'll keep swaddling for now. She's so good about going to sleep on her own and staying asleep that I don't want to mess with it.
Milestones
As I mentioned above, Hannah started cooing and laughing this week. She's been smiling since about 6 weeks old and we enjoy every one of them. She can follow toys with her eyes when she's alert and she's starting to reach out to bat at her toys on her activity mat. It's so fun to watch her concentrate. This week we worked on getting more tummy time in and she started to stay there for about 7 minutes before she screamed. She's always been quite strong and can hold her head and upper torso fairly steady.
Things for next week
I'd like to keep track of things I want to try / work on with her. This week I'd really like to work on more tummy time and possible start working on rolling over tummy to back. I am enjoying the two one-on-one waketimes per day and want to continue that as much as possible. I also want to keep her eating times as consistent as possible so that hopefully she'll sleep longer stretches at night.
I think that's our week in a nutshell. Our routine has been messed up a few days because of house showings, but we don't complain about those. Still praying that the house sells before Peter has to leave at the end of the month! We had people through tonight that want some more details on the house, so I think that's a good sign.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Heart attack on the bbq
On Saturday I mentioned that Peter wanted to try a new recipe for the bbq on Sunday. So we invited some friends over for supper and got to work after church. It needed to cook for up to 4 hours on the bbq at a really low heat, so we got to work getting it ready for 2:30. Here is a picture of it all ready to go on the bbq (note the beautiful basket weave with the bacon!).
Peter faithfully tended it all afternoon.
Oh, except for that time he left for an hour and left me in charge ;) I think I did ok, but when he came back it somehow caught on fire. Not to worry, though, it only burned the bbq sauce.
The video told us to cook it to an internal temperature of around 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, since we were cooking this on a grill instead of a bbq, and since our 'bomb' was slightly smaller than the one in the video, ours only took 2 hours too cook instead of 4! So, we called our friends who were coming for supper and asked them to come a bit earlier. We stuck the baked potatoes in the microwave to finish them off, and I quickly put together a broccoli salad and got out a bowl of baby carrots on the table. Oh, and made an apple crisp for dessert (but our friends brought a cheesecake instead ... yum!)
Since everything was so rushed I didn't get a picture of the 'bomb' when it was finished until after we ate. Here is what was left. I know it doesn't look very yummy but it was good. Honest.
Was it worth all the effort (and money)? I'm not completely convinced, but Peter only used 1 package of bacon so that cut down on the cost. It definitely looked cool and was a nice way to have a 'roast' of sorts without turning on the oven. I'll keep it in mind for the future when we want something slightly different.
Peter faithfully tended it all afternoon.
Oh, except for that time he left for an hour and left me in charge ;) I think I did ok, but when he came back it somehow caught on fire. Not to worry, though, it only burned the bbq sauce.
The video told us to cook it to an internal temperature of around 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, since we were cooking this on a grill instead of a bbq, and since our 'bomb' was slightly smaller than the one in the video, ours only took 2 hours too cook instead of 4! So, we called our friends who were coming for supper and asked them to come a bit earlier. We stuck the baked potatoes in the microwave to finish them off, and I quickly put together a broccoli salad and got out a bowl of baby carrots on the table. Oh, and made an apple crisp for dessert (but our friends brought a cheesecake instead ... yum!)
Since everything was so rushed I didn't get a picture of the 'bomb' when it was finished until after we ate. Here is what was left. I know it doesn't look very yummy but it was good. Honest.
Was it worth all the effort (and money)? I'm not completely convinced, but Peter only used 1 package of bacon so that cut down on the cost. It definitely looked cool and was a nice way to have a 'roast' of sorts without turning on the oven. I'll keep it in mind for the future when we want something slightly different.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Introducing Hannah Grace!
This post is long overdue!
Hannah Grace was born on April 1st, 2009, at 11:15 p.m. And no, I couldn't 'hold off' so we wouldn't have an April Fool's baby ;) She weighed 8 lbs, 7 oz, and was 20 7/8" long (which is apparently long for a girl - the doctor said she'll be tall. I guess we'll have to wait and see).
I had a relatively 'easy' labour again. I had been contracting off and on since Saturday (this was Wednesday). At my appointment that Monday the doctor offered to 'stretch my cervix', which he did. At that point he said I was about 3 cm. This was already past the time I had delivered Nathan (he was born at 37 weeks and Hannah at almost 39 weeks) so I was anxious to have her (we knew she was a 'she'). He said that once he did the procedure I would most likely go into labour within 24 - 48 hours. I contracted pretty strongly Monday night ... nothing came of it. Tuesday I was bit crampy but nothing strong enough to worry about. Tuesday afternoon I decided to get on the treadmill and walk for as long as I could. It didn't end up being very long (2 miles with a break in between I think) but I felt better having tried something to get labour going on my own.
Wednesday I went to our church's Mom's group in the morning and complained that I was still pregnant - lol! I wasn't feeling much of anything at that point. Wednesday after lunch the contractions got a bit stronger, but nothing more than I had felt in the previous few days. By the time I left to get Peter at 3:30, though, I was starting to think something might be happening. By the time I picked him up it was getting difficult to drive through the contractions (I don't put much stock in timing them - from Saturday to Wednesday I had periods of time where my contractions would be 2 - 3 minutes apart lasting for about a minute, but they weren't painful). I told Peter what was going on and he suggested going right to the hospital. We had to drop Nathan at a neighbour's house anyway, so I said we should go home and see how I was feeling by then. I felt slightly better once I got out of the car so we decided to make supper. Big mistake! lol. Of course, I picked baked chicken and potatoes, which takes an hour. By halfway through their cooking time I was laying on the couch telling Peter I wasn't sure we could make it until supper was cooked. While it finished cooking I finished packing stuff for Nathan and our stuff for the hospital. As soon as the food came out of the oven we packed it up in two dishes (one for Nathan and one for Peter), took Nathan to our neighbour's house, and headed to the hospital.
We arrived about 6. We were planning on waiting to make sure I was staying before calling my parents to come up. I was pretty sure at that point this was the real deal, but the nurse said since the shift change was at 7 they wanted to wait until then to check me ... agh! I was in quite a bit of pain by this point. Throughout my whole labour, though, all the nurses said I was so calm, which is funny. Anyway, they finally checked me a few minutes after 7 and I was between 5 and 6 cm. At that point I got my fentanyl iv and tried to space the doses out every 15 minutes or longer. The nurses said I didn't have very much of the drugs at all and Hannah didn't need anything when she was born to counteract their effect so I think I took just the right amount of doses :) You're allowed to have a dose every 5 minutes, which I did for the last 30 minutes or so.
My water still hadn't broken and the contractions seemed to be less intense on the monitor once I got the drugs so the nurse was getting worried the drugs were slowing things down. The whole time I was there I still hadn't seen a doctor as she was out on supper break and then something else must have happened as she didn't come in until around 10:30. She was coming to break my water. Before she did I said I had to use the washroom and it's a good thing I did it then. She checked me after I was finished and I was at 9 cm! So, she broke my water at that point, which finished the dilation process, and it was time to push. I pushed for about 30 minutes instead of an hour with Nathan, which was great. I kept worrying because I had a fourth degree tear with him so I was trying to push slowly but my body wouldn't listen to me sometimes! She came out pretty easily, though, and I only had a second degree tear this time.
They brought her right to me this time and I got to hold her while they started to stitch me up. This whole period was such a blur when I had Nathan so it was nice to really feel 'present' for her. At the hospital it seems to be their policy to have the moms shower before going to their room on the ward, so I had a quick shower and we settled in our room for the night. Hannah slept most of the night but I had so much adrenaline in my system I couldn't really sleep.
It was nice that we had her late in the evening as we got to be together just the three of us until the next morning when visitors came :) Here's a picture I took of Peter once we got back to our room.
I also felt better during the recovery period as I had hoped I would. This was great, as with Nathan I was pretty much out of commission for a whole week!
Here's a picture of her today - almost two months old! I can't believe she's already grown so much!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Course #10 - Check
Woohoo! I just finished a decent draft of my paper for my independent study project. This will count for my 10th course (out of 15) that I need for my education degree.
The paper is due on Monday, so I'm cutting it close, but I've found with Hannah and Nathan, plus putting our house on the market, this past month has been crazy! I've probably spent 30+ hours on it just in the past week and I'm so glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
I feel that way with the degree as well. Ever since my last year of my undergraduate degree I've wanted to be a teacher if I have to work in the future. Life happens and I didn't actually start my education degree until the fall of 2007, while I was on maternity leave with Nathan. At the time I planned to do 5 courses a year and finish my coursework in spring 2010. Hannah's timing couldn't have been worse for school, as she was due right at the end of winter session and the beginning of intersession so I didn't take any courses last semester and picked up a late-beginning intersession one. I also started this independent study just two weeks after she was born!
After I have finished the two courses I am currently doing I will have 4 courses left to take, all in the fall semester. I'm not looking forward to that as it will mean commuting two days a week and babysitting headaches, but I will be so glad to have the courses finished! Even though I hopefully won't have to teach full-time anywhere in the near future (with Peter's job change comes a huge answer to prayer - I will be able to stay home with our children! Yay!!) I know it is something I will / would enjoy in the future if it becomes necessary that I work. I still have a practicum to do at some point in the future, but we will wait for that until we get settled in our new location.
Peter took Nathan to a local center that allows kids to use their gymnastic equipment for a few hours on Saturday afternoon (for a fee, of course :) ). He really enjoyed it last time we went so hopefully they have a good time. It allowed me to have some uninterrupted time to get my paper finished. I will have to review it tomorrow and do a bit of formatting, but the main body of the paper looks pretty good. Have I mentioned I'm really glad to have it finished??
Peter wants to try a heart attack on the bbq (at least that's what I call it) for supper tomorrow night. To give you an idea (if you didn't click over to the video) the recipe calls for 3 lbs of ground pork and 2 lbs of bacon!! Craziness. Anyway, I'll report back on how it turns out on Monday. Other than that our weekend looks pretty free. I'm really hoping for some showings of the house to be scheduled next week - this past week has been way too quiet.
Off to feed Hannah! And I promise, a proper introduction post of her (with pictures!) is in the works. Sorry for the delay :) As you can see from the above this week has been quite busy!
The paper is due on Monday, so I'm cutting it close, but I've found with Hannah and Nathan, plus putting our house on the market, this past month has been crazy! I've probably spent 30+ hours on it just in the past week and I'm so glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
I feel that way with the degree as well. Ever since my last year of my undergraduate degree I've wanted to be a teacher if I have to work in the future. Life happens and I didn't actually start my education degree until the fall of 2007, while I was on maternity leave with Nathan. At the time I planned to do 5 courses a year and finish my coursework in spring 2010. Hannah's timing couldn't have been worse for school, as she was due right at the end of winter session and the beginning of intersession so I didn't take any courses last semester and picked up a late-beginning intersession one. I also started this independent study just two weeks after she was born!
After I have finished the two courses I am currently doing I will have 4 courses left to take, all in the fall semester. I'm not looking forward to that as it will mean commuting two days a week and babysitting headaches, but I will be so glad to have the courses finished! Even though I hopefully won't have to teach full-time anywhere in the near future (with Peter's job change comes a huge answer to prayer - I will be able to stay home with our children! Yay!!) I know it is something I will / would enjoy in the future if it becomes necessary that I work. I still have a practicum to do at some point in the future, but we will wait for that until we get settled in our new location.
Peter took Nathan to a local center that allows kids to use their gymnastic equipment for a few hours on Saturday afternoon (for a fee, of course :) ). He really enjoyed it last time we went so hopefully they have a good time. It allowed me to have some uninterrupted time to get my paper finished. I will have to review it tomorrow and do a bit of formatting, but the main body of the paper looks pretty good. Have I mentioned I'm really glad to have it finished??
Peter wants to try a heart attack on the bbq (at least that's what I call it) for supper tomorrow night. To give you an idea (if you didn't click over to the video) the recipe calls for 3 lbs of ground pork and 2 lbs of bacon!! Craziness. Anyway, I'll report back on how it turns out on Monday. Other than that our weekend looks pretty free. I'm really hoping for some showings of the house to be scheduled next week - this past week has been way too quiet.
Off to feed Hannah! And I promise, a proper introduction post of her (with pictures!) is in the works. Sorry for the delay :) As you can see from the above this week has been quite busy!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Running
Twice in the past I've found running to be the most effective thing for me to lose weight. Both times I also followed a 'walk-to-jog' plan to avoid doing too much too fast and getting injured. My favourite part of the link above is when it talks about 'slimmer hips' - that's what grabbed me the first time as my lower half has always been my trouble zone. I would also much rather exercise than restrict my diet too much.
Since it's worked before and since I tend to gain lots of weight when I'm pregnant (and breastfeeding doesn't seem to make it fall off me as I was assured it would!) I knew that once I had the ok from the doctor I would be starting all over again. As of last weekend I had 12 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-Nathan pregnancy weight, 17 to get back to my pre-Hannah pregnancy weight, and 22 to get to my 'ideal' weight. Fun, fun!
I stepped on the treadmill last Saturday for the first time and decided to start on week 2 of the program. Wow - that was tougher than I thought it would be! However, I stuck with it and this morning I started 'week 3.' I'm just going to run every second day and go through the weeks that way. All of my running will be done on the treadmill for the foreseeable future, as it's much easier to be able to go during the day while I'm home with the kids.
The best part of the week came this morning when I stepped on the scale and had already lost 2 pounds! So, that means I have 10/15/20 left to lose. Yay! I'm still in maternity pants almost exclusively but I have one pair of non-maternity dress pants I can start wearing now. Things are looking up :)
Since it's worked before and since I tend to gain lots of weight when I'm pregnant (and breastfeeding doesn't seem to make it fall off me as I was assured it would!) I knew that once I had the ok from the doctor I would be starting all over again. As of last weekend I had 12 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-Nathan pregnancy weight, 17 to get back to my pre-Hannah pregnancy weight, and 22 to get to my 'ideal' weight. Fun, fun!
I stepped on the treadmill last Saturday for the first time and decided to start on week 2 of the program. Wow - that was tougher than I thought it would be! However, I stuck with it and this morning I started 'week 3.' I'm just going to run every second day and go through the weeks that way. All of my running will be done on the treadmill for the foreseeable future, as it's much easier to be able to go during the day while I'm home with the kids.
The best part of the week came this morning when I stepped on the scale and had already lost 2 pounds! So, that means I have 10/15/20 left to lose. Yay! I'm still in maternity pants almost exclusively but I have one pair of non-maternity dress pants I can start wearing now. Things are looking up :)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Making cookies
So much has happened since my last update ... but I don't feel like recapping it all right now. I'll just mention a few of the major things then move on to what I wanted to write about today :) First, we had a little girl on April 1st (yes, I know, April Fool's baby, but I couldn't 'hold out' that extra hour as Peter requested when it was time to push. lol). Her name is Hannah Grace and I can't believe she's almost 2 months old already!
Second, Peter has accepted a new job that will require him to go away for training for 6 months (he leaves at the end of June). This means we will be selling our house (as we will be relocating at the end of that time) so I'm going to go home to live with my parents for those 6 months. As well, I have officially quit my job since we won't be here when my maternity leave is up, and I am working hard to finish my Bachelor of Education courses by the end of the fall. More details on all that stuff in future posts :)
This morning Nathan (he's 2 now!! eeks!) and I made chocolate chip cookies. It was my first time having him 'help' with cooking and it was so fun. Actually I did try one other time but it was a disaster - he fell off the chair he was standing on!
Here is my favourite picture from this morning. He has just noticed the chocolate chips in the dough he is supposed to be stirring and is on his way to pick one up and eat it. Too cute!
Of course, the best part of making cookies is ...
... eating them!
Second, Peter has accepted a new job that will require him to go away for training for 6 months (he leaves at the end of June). This means we will be selling our house (as we will be relocating at the end of that time) so I'm going to go home to live with my parents for those 6 months. As well, I have officially quit my job since we won't be here when my maternity leave is up, and I am working hard to finish my Bachelor of Education courses by the end of the fall. More details on all that stuff in future posts :)
This morning Nathan (he's 2 now!! eeks!) and I made chocolate chip cookies. It was my first time having him 'help' with cooking and it was so fun. Actually I did try one other time but it was a disaster - he fell off the chair he was standing on!
Here is my favourite picture from this morning. He has just noticed the chocolate chips in the dough he is supposed to be stirring and is on his way to pick one up and eat it. Too cute!
Of course, the best part of making cookies is ...
... eating them!
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