To say this blog has fallen by the wayside would be an understatement--yikes!
In the past four months a lot has happened. James has stepped down from Dean of Students, I've picked up more tutoring gigs, we bought a lake house, moved houses at Webb, and the French exchange students came and went. Asher is 1, Cadence is 3, and James and I are tenuously holding on to our sanity most days. Some days are obviously rougher than others, but as of late I feel like things have calmed down a little and the kids haven't been so difficult to parent. Cadence is becoming a better listener, helper, and learning ways to effectively deal with her emotions, and Asher is beginning to be able to play with her with fewer meltdowns--the moments when they are playing happily are the best!
They have both had bouts of constipation this summer, and I still am completely at a loss as to why! They eat tons of fruits and vegetables--mostly berries and grapes, so they are definitely getting a healthy dose of fiber every day. I think we've got things smoothed out now, but I'm sure we'll be thrown for another loop soon.
Asher's sleeping....well, we've essentially given up at the lake house. One of us lays down with him every night and for every nap and then once he's asleep we can get up, but he definitely stays in our bed all night and still wakes up every single night. There were about two weeks where I got him to not nurse in the middle of the night anymore, but since his constipation I've been giving in since he really doesn't drink much during the day, so maybe that is part of his problem. He shows no signs of wanting to give up nursing now, so who knows when the weaning will happen!
Cadence is growing and learning so much, and although she is headstrong and opinionated, she's also very sweet and loves to be a helper and make things for her friends. She loves swimming in the lake and going "too deep" with Daddy, and the number of hilarious things she says on a daily basis are too numerous to keep track of.
Lilypie First Birthday tickers
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
9 months
Looks like I've missed a few months! I do have notes about some things that have happened since my last post, but I wanted to do 9 months before I forgot!
Asher is now 9 months old, and he just recently got over a little virus, which just brought about a really high fever and discomfort, but was unsettling nonetheless. We even took him to the doctor for our first non-well visit ever! The doctor said he wasn't going to give him antibiotics just yet, but he sent me with a prescription just in case, and sure enough Asher was better within 24 hours. This month we also left Asher alone for the first time overnight--over 4 nights in fact--as we took a school trip to Quebec. Grandma and Pa took care of him. He's also started eating more bits of solid food and fewer purees, and he loves those little cereal puffs of course. He also started crawling full force, and he loves to move from room to room and play with Cadence's puzzle pieces...or really whatever she has that she doesn't want him to get. He is still not sleeping through the night, and usually ends up in our bed most nights, but we're holding off on any sleep training until after we travel for spring break. He does take really great naps during the day, so that's one positive! He is still a very happy and easy-going baby, and we are enjoying his sweet personality so much.
Asher is now 9 months old, and he just recently got over a little virus, which just brought about a really high fever and discomfort, but was unsettling nonetheless. We even took him to the doctor for our first non-well visit ever! The doctor said he wasn't going to give him antibiotics just yet, but he sent me with a prescription just in case, and sure enough Asher was better within 24 hours. This month we also left Asher alone for the first time overnight--over 4 nights in fact--as we took a school trip to Quebec. Grandma and Pa took care of him. He's also started eating more bits of solid food and fewer purees, and he loves those little cereal puffs of course. He also started crawling full force, and he loves to move from room to room and play with Cadence's puzzle pieces...or really whatever she has that she doesn't want him to get. He is still not sleeping through the night, and usually ends up in our bed most nights, but we're holding off on any sleep training until after we travel for spring break. He does take really great naps during the day, so that's one positive! He is still a very happy and easy-going baby, and we are enjoying his sweet personality so much.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
3 months old!...and 4 months old...
I forgot to post for Asher's 3 month old milestone, but we'll see if I can remember what he was doing a month ago!
Asher has continued to be a really easy baby, sleeping very well, eating very well, and routinely falling asleep before 8pm on the evenings when I have to tutor. He's moved into 3-6 month clothes, and is really beginning to interact with Cadence more. He's sleeping through the night almost every night, and aside from not really liking James if I'm not around (hence the screaming session during my "girls' day out"), he's been so great to take care of. He had a check-up two days before he turned 3 months old, and Dr. Bigham said everything looked great--he was 13 lbs 12 oz, which is bigger than Cadence was at 4 months, so he's caught up with her pace! He has quite the killer smile that makes it hard for people to leave him.
4 months:
Asher has unfortunately hit a little bit of a sleep regression, mostly because he just loves to grab his feet and slam his legs into the mattress when he's sleeping. Sometimes he will wake up and fuss, but actually, he doesn't even wake up--he just grunts and seems uncomfortable. He's growing out of lots of his 3-6 month clothes already, which is crazy! I did an unofficial weigh-in on him and he was 16 lbs even, and 25 1/4 inches long. He loves being tickled and having people love on him, and his reputation for being the happiest baby ever is still in tact. He's started enjoying the exersaucer, and we tried the johnny jump-up once, but Cadence was more interested in it--and by that I mean interested in pushing him around and trying to get in it herself. Oh Cadence! He was also baptized on October 12, and he wore the sweetest little outfit!
Cadence has been doing great lately--she did her first solo forward roll without going off to the side, and she had a lot of fun playing with her cousins and aunts and uncles when they came to visit. She is in love with some funny songs right now--All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor, Wagon Wheel, Shine On, 22, The Freeze Dance, and the Hello song from storytime. She got to see a cockatoo at storytime last week, and she absolutely loves playing with the giant dollhouse in the library and seeing the water fountains outside. Potty training has been going pretty well, but she usually has at least one accident a week when I'm busy with Asher and she just doesn't want to pull herself away from whatever she's doing. She likes it when I let her "fly" onto the potty and when we talk to "Mr. Pee-pee" and ask him to come out. She's getting really into taking care of her own little baby doll, and she is doing a much better job of listening and following directions. I really want to be more intentional about expanding her French vocabulary from here on out, but it is hard to remember! She does so much everyday that is funny and entertaining, and I wish I could remember to write it all down! One of her best stories was when she left Bible study and told me about what they learned--"Moses....God....Manna...Whoa. Good job God!" She is working on memorizing her second Bible verse, "Trust in the Lord and do good." Psalm 37:3. She is such a sweet girl, and although sharing is a challenge with her other two year old friends, we'll just keep trying to make it happen!
Asher has continued to be a really easy baby, sleeping very well, eating very well, and routinely falling asleep before 8pm on the evenings when I have to tutor. He's moved into 3-6 month clothes, and is really beginning to interact with Cadence more. He's sleeping through the night almost every night, and aside from not really liking James if I'm not around (hence the screaming session during my "girls' day out"), he's been so great to take care of. He had a check-up two days before he turned 3 months old, and Dr. Bigham said everything looked great--he was 13 lbs 12 oz, which is bigger than Cadence was at 4 months, so he's caught up with her pace! He has quite the killer smile that makes it hard for people to leave him.
4 months:
Asher has unfortunately hit a little bit of a sleep regression, mostly because he just loves to grab his feet and slam his legs into the mattress when he's sleeping. Sometimes he will wake up and fuss, but actually, he doesn't even wake up--he just grunts and seems uncomfortable. He's growing out of lots of his 3-6 month clothes already, which is crazy! I did an unofficial weigh-in on him and he was 16 lbs even, and 25 1/4 inches long. He loves being tickled and having people love on him, and his reputation for being the happiest baby ever is still in tact. He's started enjoying the exersaucer, and we tried the johnny jump-up once, but Cadence was more interested in it--and by that I mean interested in pushing him around and trying to get in it herself. Oh Cadence! He was also baptized on October 12, and he wore the sweetest little outfit!
Cadence has been doing great lately--she did her first solo forward roll without going off to the side, and she had a lot of fun playing with her cousins and aunts and uncles when they came to visit. She is in love with some funny songs right now--All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor, Wagon Wheel, Shine On, 22, The Freeze Dance, and the Hello song from storytime. She got to see a cockatoo at storytime last week, and she absolutely loves playing with the giant dollhouse in the library and seeing the water fountains outside. Potty training has been going pretty well, but she usually has at least one accident a week when I'm busy with Asher and she just doesn't want to pull herself away from whatever she's doing. She likes it when I let her "fly" onto the potty and when we talk to "Mr. Pee-pee" and ask him to come out. She's getting really into taking care of her own little baby doll, and she is doing a much better job of listening and following directions. I really want to be more intentional about expanding her French vocabulary from here on out, but it is hard to remember! She does so much everyday that is funny and entertaining, and I wish I could remember to write it all down! One of her best stories was when she left Bible study and told me about what they learned--"Moses....God....Manna...Whoa. Good job God!" She is working on memorizing her second Bible verse, "Trust in the Lord and do good." Psalm 37:3. She is such a sweet girl, and although sharing is a challenge with her other two year old friends, we'll just keep trying to make it happen!
Monday, August 25, 2014
2 months old! and other news
Well Asher is now two months old, and he is growing like a weed! By my unofficial weigh-in he's about 12.5 pounds now, and I'll have to try to get his length at some point just so I can see how he compares with his big sister at this age. He has slept through the night (9:30/10-6:30) two nights in a row now, and he is still just a really easy and predictable baby. No sleepless nights, no missed afternoon naps, and he almost always naps the same time that Cadence does in the afternoon, which makes life much more bearable! This month he endured the start of school and the end of our summer of fun with Daddy. He still eats every 2-3 hours, but since he's been sleeping so well at night I've been able to get a lot of milk in the freezer which has been great! I know I will need it once my tutoring schedule gets going! He LOVES getting his diaper changed now, and splashes up a storm during bath time. He went a few weeks where he'd only poop once a week, but now he's back to once every day or every two days. He's getting too big for most of his 0-3 month clothes, which makes me sad because he has some really cute things that I'll have to retire soon! He is laughing and cooing all over the place, and really likes it when people say, "hey buddy!" to him, especially when Cadence does it and smiles at him. They are really sweet to watch play together, although Cadence is really ready for him to be ready to wrestle with her--she has headbutted and kicked him a few times already--sorry buddy! We try to protect you, but she's really fast!
Cadence has had a big month as well, continuing her potty training, and moving into her big girl bed. The big girl bed went well at first, but soon she figured out that she could get up, and started leaving her room on her own every 10 minutes or so to go potty or ask for a kiss. She's driving me crazy with this back and forth, and she doesn't usually go to bed until 9:30 or 10 when that happens, and we put her to bed at 7:30! AHHHH! She's still taking gymnastics, and hopefully one of these days she won't be the worst listener in her class--she loves to wander and do her own thing. She also has been going to the CBS children's class, and learned her first Bible verse by memory last week, Matthew 28:20- I am with you always. She can count to 10 now, knows her colors, some letters, and body parts.
Cadence has had a big month as well, continuing her potty training, and moving into her big girl bed. The big girl bed went well at first, but soon she figured out that she could get up, and started leaving her room on her own every 10 minutes or so to go potty or ask for a kiss. She's driving me crazy with this back and forth, and she doesn't usually go to bed until 9:30 or 10 when that happens, and we put her to bed at 7:30! AHHHH! She's still taking gymnastics, and hopefully one of these days she won't be the worst listener in her class--she loves to wander and do her own thing. She also has been going to the CBS children's class, and learned her first Bible verse by memory last week, Matthew 28:20- I am with you always. She can count to 10 now, knows her colors, some letters, and body parts.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Potty Training Day 1!
I had been contemplating potty training Cadence for a long time now, and just never convinced myself it was a good time. I've been reading about lots of different methods, and the 3 day "bare bottom" approach appealed to me most because although it sounded intense, it also seemed like we could get her trained quickly! Last night I told James I was ready to start it this week, because I realized that although it might not be an easy task, it's not going to be any easier once school starts and I'm home alone with the kids!
So I woke up and got Cadence this morning, after talking to her last night about having no more diapers and getting to wear panties like Mommy. I even had her go and tell James that she wanted panties and "NO MORE DIAPERS!" This morning when I woke her up I reminded her of no more diapers, took off her overnight diaper and put her on her potty. She went right away, so we had a little celebration, and then we went on with our day....with a naked booty. She had one accident right after breakfast, and then went a few hours without one until James left to go to his office. She had a couple of little accidents while climbing on top of the furniture, and two bigger ones when I was out of the room, but she seems to be catching on really well so far. Before her nap she even went "caca" in the potty, which was a big cause for celebration. At first I wasn't giving her any food rewards for going in the potty, but once James left and she didn't seem as interested in it, I started giving her one mini chocolate chip as a reward for using the potty, wiping, and washing her hands each time. I'm pretty excited to see how she progresses over the next few days!
So I woke up and got Cadence this morning, after talking to her last night about having no more diapers and getting to wear panties like Mommy. I even had her go and tell James that she wanted panties and "NO MORE DIAPERS!" This morning when I woke her up I reminded her of no more diapers, took off her overnight diaper and put her on her potty. She went right away, so we had a little celebration, and then we went on with our day....with a naked booty. She had one accident right after breakfast, and then went a few hours without one until James left to go to his office. She had a couple of little accidents while climbing on top of the furniture, and two bigger ones when I was out of the room, but she seems to be catching on really well so far. Before her nap she even went "caca" in the potty, which was a big cause for celebration. At first I wasn't giving her any food rewards for going in the potty, but once James left and she didn't seem as interested in it, I started giving her one mini chocolate chip as a reward for using the potty, wiping, and washing her hands each time. I'm pretty excited to see how she progresses over the next few days!
Friday, July 11, 2014
one month old!
Today Asher hit the one month mark, and boy, that month certainly flew by! He's been such a good baby, mostly just because he's very predictable....still needing a nap after he's been awake for about 2 hours, with a long nap in the afternoon and generally going to bed for the night around 9pm. Last night unfortunately one of his two hour awake windows fell between 1-3am, but knowing that I just have to make it through two hours makes it easier to handle without getting frustrated that he's not sleeping. He took his first bottle a couple of days ago, and did really well! He's still wearing 0-3 month sized clothing, and over the past week or so has started smiling for real!
Cadence had another gymnastics class this week, and boy, does she love it! She impressed her teachers with her bear crawl, but is still working on some of the other skills. James and I have to laugh because she really did inherit our flexibility and coordination, but I love watching her because she really doesn't give up and tries to listen to her teachers and mimic what they do. Her favorite song right now is "Rock Me Mama" by Darius Rucker, and some of her favorite things to do are play with balloons, play in the pool, eat cookies, and watch any sport with Daddy. She loves to come into our room in the morning and wake me up and see Asher, and since we started her "Happy Face" chart, she's done a wonderful job of completing all of her tasks everyday.
Cadence had another gymnastics class this week, and boy, does she love it! She impressed her teachers with her bear crawl, but is still working on some of the other skills. James and I have to laugh because she really did inherit our flexibility and coordination, but I love watching her because she really doesn't give up and tries to listen to her teachers and mimic what they do. Her favorite song right now is "Rock Me Mama" by Darius Rucker, and some of her favorite things to do are play with balloons, play in the pool, eat cookies, and watch any sport with Daddy. She loves to come into our room in the morning and wake me up and see Asher, and since we started her "Happy Face" chart, she's done a wonderful job of completing all of her tasks everyday.
Monday, July 7, 2014
We survived our visitors!
The past two weeks have been a flurry of activity as we have had three different sets of visitors descend on us from the North, plus the everyday stuff we normally have to do!
James's parents came first, and then two days later James's friend Steve came down to hang out with James for the day, and then two days after that his sister Missy and her family came down for five days, and the last day they were here my mom and Katrina came and stayed for two days. Luckily after James's parents' visit we were able to keep a pretty normal routine for Cadence so that she was still able to nap and go to bed at her usual times, so I think that definitely helped her sleep better. While my mom and Katrina were here she had another bout of constipation issues which lasted two days and was no fun for anyone.
Last Thursday Cadence tried out the gymnastics place in Murfreesboro with a free trial class, and although I will admit that she was not the best one there, she definitely tried to follow directions and enjoyed herself even if she was a little tentative to begin with. We were unsure if we were going to pay for her to continue classes, but we decided it's probably good for her because with us as her parents flexibility is going to be a major challenge, so we might as well try to get her to be limber early on! I'm glad we did go ahead and sign her up, because all this week she keeps saying "Nastics fun!", jumping, and doing other little moves that they asked her to do last week. She's definitely super cute to watch as she tries out new things and learns to take risks.
We've also been to two Webb library storytimes, which Cadence mostly enjoys because she gets to see her little buddies.
Asher has tagged along to all these activities and been so great. His schedule has only shifted slightly, with him usually staying awake until 9:30, waking up around 4:30, and then again around 6:30. He usually has a good two hours of wake time in the morning, again in the afternoon around 4 or 5, and then finally right before he goes to bed for the night. He's down to pooping only once a day usually now, which makes going out less stressful! He started taking a pacifier at the end of last week, and this week I plan to introduce a bottle and see how he does with that. I can't believe he will be one month old on Friday! So crazy!
James's parents came first, and then two days later James's friend Steve came down to hang out with James for the day, and then two days after that his sister Missy and her family came down for five days, and the last day they were here my mom and Katrina came and stayed for two days. Luckily after James's parents' visit we were able to keep a pretty normal routine for Cadence so that she was still able to nap and go to bed at her usual times, so I think that definitely helped her sleep better. While my mom and Katrina were here she had another bout of constipation issues which lasted two days and was no fun for anyone.
Last Thursday Cadence tried out the gymnastics place in Murfreesboro with a free trial class, and although I will admit that she was not the best one there, she definitely tried to follow directions and enjoyed herself even if she was a little tentative to begin with. We were unsure if we were going to pay for her to continue classes, but we decided it's probably good for her because with us as her parents flexibility is going to be a major challenge, so we might as well try to get her to be limber early on! I'm glad we did go ahead and sign her up, because all this week she keeps saying "Nastics fun!", jumping, and doing other little moves that they asked her to do last week. She's definitely super cute to watch as she tries out new things and learns to take risks.
We've also been to two Webb library storytimes, which Cadence mostly enjoys because she gets to see her little buddies.
Asher has tagged along to all these activities and been so great. His schedule has only shifted slightly, with him usually staying awake until 9:30, waking up around 4:30, and then again around 6:30. He usually has a good two hours of wake time in the morning, again in the afternoon around 4 or 5, and then finally right before he goes to bed for the night. He's down to pooping only once a day usually now, which makes going out less stressful! He started taking a pacifier at the end of last week, and this week I plan to introduce a bottle and see how he does with that. I can't believe he will be one month old on Friday! So crazy!