Mother of Two

Mother's Day did not get off to a very great start, but it ended very nicely. On Saturday night Max stayed over & it took a while for him to settle to sleep because he missed his mom. Sydney too took a long time to get to sleep & probably finally went to sleep an hour & half later than she usually does. Does not bode well for a "happy" day the next day.

During the night Max was up multiple times & at 2am I was getting close to calling his Mom & Dad to come get him. But thankfully that was the last we heard from Max until around 6am, but unfortunately Jason woke up at 5am. I started the day by saying "Happy freaking Mother's Day" to Brad. We were both rather tired & not exactly up to snuff to participating in a very busy day.

My Mom came down to see us & we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens for brunch. It was OK, but Brad thought that the Junior Farmer's brunch that we usually go to in Atwood is much better considering the bill for 3 of us there is less than $20 compared to the $100 bill from the RBG brunch. Although the food was good, I must say that I agree with him. Thankfully Sydney was free, but she ate very well. Jason didn't nap well in the morning, so he was a little testy during our meal & Sydney was also tired so with the two kids it was a bit like walking on eggshells to be sure you didn't set one of them off. Although there moods were a little volatile, we did get some nice pictures before we left.
Brad's family came over in the afternoon & we ordered take-out Chinese. Thankfully the weather was very nice so we could sit outside & enjoy the sunshine. We tried to get a picture of Dale with the grand kids, but the one shown here is the best we could get. Trying to coordinate a 2 year old, 3 year old & 9 month old is not an easy task.

Our neighbours were having their family over so they had opened their pool this week so that the backyard looked presentable. Although the water was only 67 degrees, the kids were in swimming. Oh, to be young again.

Pillow Fight

He may not be one yet, but Sydney & Jason have had their first pillow fight. Saturday morning they were pushing the cushion back & forth at each other and having a riot. It was so funny to watch & we finally heard a good hearty laugh from Jason.

Lovable, not always likeable

Cheerios & puff cereal cause no problems.
A runny nose will even help you save some for later.

Jason is always lovable, but at mealtimes he is not always likable. This morning was the first meal that did not involve a screaming fit since lunchtime on Wednesday. They say that at this point in the baby's life you should be introducing them to many different tastes & textures because it will not be as easy to get them to try new things as they get older.

Well, if this is the case- Jason's eating repertoire will be even smaller than mine was as a kid. I realize that since I was such a picky eater as a kid I should not be so surprised that I have been cursed with one myself & should have more patience with him. However, I do not think that I screamed bloody murder as soon as something I didn't want entered my mouth. I don't think that we will ever have to worry about wondering about how Jason feels about something, because he does appear quite willing to let you know...loudly. Our neighbours could hear him on Wednesday night & she just laughed when I told her that he was screaming because I put some rice & chicken in his mouth. She laughs because she is not sitting at our dinner table.

I borrowed a cookbook from a friend yesterday that has some baby-friendly recipes in it- hopefully this will bring Jason closer to eating more "table" food so that we can get away from the jarred food. I really don't get why he would rather eat that revolting looking stuff than fresh food prepared lovingly by his Mommy, but we are more successful with it than we are with our attempts.

A morning in the woods

On Monday I took Sydney & Jason for their first official "hike". I did not venture this alone, but went with a friend & her two kids. Sydney & Rain had fun climbing on tree stumps, logs & rocks. Moxie & Jason did very well & seemed to enjoy it too. It was my first outing with Jason in the back carrier & the ache between my shoulder blades Monday night taught me that I will need to pay more attention to my posture the next time.

This is a trail that Logan got to run on a lot before the kiddies came along, so she was thrilled to be back. However, in paying attention to what Sydney was doing I did not pay as much attention to Logan. So, as my punishment for that I had to bathe a poopy dog when we got home. I do not know why she needs to roll in crap, but it is a thing that she will do when we are out & she finds a stinky (& often slimey) mess to roll in.

Jason & Moxie patiently waiting to go.

Sydney & Rain

If you look to the right of the picture you will see Logan on her search for a good roll.

Nature's balancing apparatus. Tree stumps & moss covered rocks.

Not yet, but he's trying

He's working on pulling himself up, but not there yet.

He has however reached his goal of getting the cupboard door open & pulling all the bowls out.

Nine Months

Thankfully this past month has been much more restful than the week prior to you turning 8 months old. Right after your 8 month birthday you slept through the night 3 nights in a row. Then Easter weekend hit & that was the end of that stretch. So, I decided to dilute your bottle to be mostly water hoping that you would not be interested in waking up for a watered down bottle. But for 3 nights you did. On the third night you started to play with my face rather than drinking, so that was the end of our mid-night feeding. The next night you slept until 5am & fussed for about half an hour before returning to sleep. There was probably 3 nights of that & since then you have been doing great. I was expecting that you would scream loud enough to wake everyone on our street when I did not come to you, but that never happened. I was very pleased that this whole "learning experience" involved very little crying.

Some other things that you have started to do are:

• randomly wave bye-bye
• drink your bottle all by yourself
• eat some finger foods- mainly Cheerios, bananas & anything in a bread format
• you love to shake your head "no" at anyone who will play your game
  

A few days ago you finally started to show signs of getting ready to crawl. You slowly scoot around on your bum & you have finally started to use your arms when leaning forward. One of your favourite goals is to reach the cupboard with the plastic containers to try & get the door open. You are definitely a boy that loves to open drawers & doors.

You like to 'play' more now too & you love to be outside. You love to play with any toy that plays music & you bounce up and down to the songs. You are a sorter- stacking cups & puzzle pieces will draw your attention every time. You had your first introduction to grass, sand, & stones & you were mildly interested in them. It took a bit, but you now are putting them in your mouth which is not what we want. You also had your first swing ride at the park & you really enjoyed it- but thought it was best when your sister was on the swings too.

You are becoming a much smilier guy, but you still don't hand them out freely. You tend to save your smiles for those who you know best & not perfect strangers. You also got 2 more teeth, so you now have six (4 on top, 2 on bottom).

All in all it has been a very fun month with you & makes me dread going back to work.

His scooting may now be purposeful,
but he doesn't always get where he was aiming to go.

Loves to ride in the little car.

Like your sister when she was a baby, you have no hair.
Therefore, you need to keep your hat on when outside & thankfully it is going well.

Not sure how long this sandbox will hold the 2 of them.

Test Run

Yesterday I met with my boss to discuss things at work. She will be gone on mat leave when I get back to work (in less than 3 months, sniff sniff).

If yesterday was to be considered a test run of what things will like when I return, it was not fun. Although I did not have to have the kids to Grandma & Papa's until 11am, getting out the door seemed to be more difficult than it should. Then my meeting ran much later than I planned & to top it off it was raining. Trying to get home from Scarborough in rush hour traffic on a rainy day resulted in a 2 hour drive.

We do not have a car seat for Jason in Brad's car, so he could not go pick them up. Therefore, I arrived at 6:40pm to pick them up. Sydney of course didn't want to leave & was not impressed to be rushed by me. Jason essentially came home, into his pj's, drank his bottle & straight to bed. No real Mommy-time for him.

I know that this is not a typical day at work for me, but there will be some days that I will not get home until this time if I am coming from Scarborough. Thankfully at that point Jason can face forward & we will have 2 car seats in each car so that Brad can do pick-up too. But that means that I will only see the kids for 30 minutes to an hour before they go to bed. Sniff sniff.

Kinda brown

Here is a picture that shows that Jason is close to being a brown-eyed baby. Although I was hoping to have a brown-eyed child, I actually hope that Jason's eyes stay the way they are now. They are brown right around the pupil and the outside of his iris is blue. Typically a very dark blue, but his eyes will change depending on what he is wearing. Sometimes they are more brown & sometimes more blue.

I am not sure, but I think this classifies his eye colour as hazel doesn't it?

We are still waiting for the hair to come in, but I am continuing to hope that it is darker rather than lighter. He is such a mini-me of his father, that I would like one distinguishing feature to match mine.

(Yes, he has a cold again!!!)

Glimmers of Movement

It looks like Jason will be choosing bum-scooting as his form of movement. He has been moving around for a few days, but there was no sign that the movement was purposeful. This morning when we were playing, he was actually trying to move to get to the toy. He does not move very far or very fast, but it looks like a start. If in two attempts he is not getting any closer, he gives up. Not really what you want to see, but at least he wasn't crying because he couldn't reach it.

Right now it appears that balls are a toy of choice & worthy of his effort to move. He also impressed me this morning with his ability to take a ball & place it in the hole where it is supposed to go. He has a few different toys that require this skill & understanding, but so far the knowledge seems to be tied to the elephant ring stacking toy.

It is amazing how many more things you notice when his big sister is not around to distract you or take over in his play.

Note: you need to look at the lines in the carpet to see that he actually moved an inch or two to get what he wanted.

Barefoot experiences

Now that the weather is finally producing days that are warm enough to bare some skin, Jason is experiencing some of the neatest "firsts" of spring/summer.

Barefoot in the grass. See how he has his one foot curled up?
Wasn't too sure at first.

Barefoot in the sand.
Not too much of a response & remarkably he didn't put any in his mouth.

Playing on the swings.
Even more fun with your sister.

A Day at the Carnival

On the weekend there was another mini-carnival in town. Typically the weekends of the carnival are terrible weather. This weekend was the perfect weather & Tara & I headed down to the rides with the kids.

Last fall when Brad, my Mom & I went to one there was a couple there with their children who are the same age difference as Sydney & Jason. It was very cute to see them ride the rides together & to see big sister taking care of her little brother. The little boy at the time was only a year & a half. Therefore, it struck me this weekend that it is possible that next year at this time we could be loading both Sydney & Jason onto the rides. I am sure that will be here before we know it. This time however, Jason was sitting on the sidelines.

During the ride, this little guy turned around & was talking to Sydney & Evelyn. Next thing I see is Sydney is putting her hands up in the air. They didn't stay up long enough for me to get a picture though.

Sydney says the roller coaster was her favourite ride.
Yes, you see correctly- they are the only ones on the ride.

Isn't this just too cute???

Hanging out while his sister has all the fun.

Project: Sleep Through the Night

When Jason was turning 8 months & still not sleeping through the night, our plan was to let him cry it out before he hit his 9 month birthday. I thought for sure that it was going to be a long & painful process that was going to require me taking some Valium to get through it. Then, just after Jason's 8 month birthday he slept through the night 3 nights in a row. We then hit Easter weekend & his sleeping stretch quit.

Since he had slept through the night, I started diluting his bottle so that it was mainly water in hopes that he would not bother waking for water. Well, he still woke up & was taking the bottle- until last Wednesday. When I got up with him, he drank maybe 2 ounces & then proceeded to play with my face. So I took him back to his crib, kissed him goodnight & left. He talked for a little bit & fussed somewhat, but then he went to sleep. I told Brad the next morning that I was no longer going to go to Jason because he was no longer seeking the feeding, but the company. Although I love spending time with the little guy, not so much at 4:30am.

I also thought that the timing of our little project was good since Sydney & I were going to be gone for a night that we could each get a good night's sleep without the very early morning protest from Jason. Brad is much better able to sleep through Jason's night wakings than I am.

I am happy to report that after a week, our little project appears to be successful & with very little growing pains. I say appears because I know Jason & if he starts on another tooth or gets sick, our nights will be filled with wakings again. I thought for sure that when we decided to bite the bullet & work on getting Jason to sleep through the night it would involve nights (or more appropriately early mornings) of screaming fits. Truthfully we have had a couple of nights where he has "protested", but never really screamed. The last few nights he has either slept right through to 6:15am or at 5am you can hear him chatting to himself before he falls back to sleep. I am sure that it has all worked out this way because he was ready to sleep through the night & demonstrated that to us early this month. If we had tried this a month ago, our results would have likely involved listening to his rage cry.

There has however been a down side to all of this. Two nights ago Sydney woke at 1am & was calling for me & I did not hear her. Brad went to her & settled her back down. I did not hear any of this. She also woke early in the morning & probably heard Brad go downstairs to exercise. She got out of bed & went to find him in the basement. This I also didn't hear. I am typically a very light sleeper, so I am hoping that the reason I did not hear any of this is due to the cold that has started to take over my body. Although I relish the thought of getting a solid night's sleep, I want to be sure that I also am hearing my children when they do need me.

Just because it's cute

The mobile came down today & will soon be returned to the Fluit family & it's new owner, Matthew. As a replacement, the aquarium went back up. I am hoping to entice Jason to sit up on his own & play when he wakes up.

I know you are not supposed to, but...

If you think I'm opening my mouth again, think again.

This is the expression you often get from Jason when feeding him. The mouth goes closed & it takes great encouragement to get it to open again to take anything else.
This morning it was one bite of yogurt too many.

Although by taking the picture, I did learn that the camera does get him distracted enough that he will open up & eat again

I know that it is one of the worst things that a parent can do, but I am really starting to compare Jason to Sydney. Sydney was a "textbook baby". When it came to sleeping, eating, moving, teething, talking...you name it, if the book said it happened by a certain date- it did with her. Sometimes she was on the early part of normal (e.g. teeth) and other times she was on the late end of normal (e.g. talking- but you would never know it now). Yesterday, I started looking back at the pictures on the computer from when Sydney was Jason's age & now am starting to get myself into a little panic. Jason is way behind where she was at his age.

I know the continuum of normal can be quite large & that every kid is different. However, I am starting to get concerned that he is getting too far towards the late part of the continuum that he will drop off & be delayed in hitting the "big" milestones. He is now 8 1/2 months & still shows no sign of moving. If he is sitting, he makes no attempt to get onto his tummy to reach something- unless you count stretching forward so far that his tummy touches the floor. If he is lying down he shows no interest in rolling over to get to something or try to work his way back into a sitting position. He will reach for something that he wants, but if he can't reach it- it stays where it is & so does he. He will tolerate playing on his stomach with me for awhile- because we really started to work on it- but when he has had enough he just yells in frustration, but doesn't try to do anything about it.

Last year I was at a birthday party where one of the guest's little baby was still just sitting there at a year old & not doing anything else. The little girl was getting so big, it would be hard for her to do anything to move herself. I am worried that this is where we will head with Jason if he doesn't get a move on soon. I must say that I am surprised that we seem to be at this impasse. Jason is rarely still, he is always moving, but he does not seem to be making purposeful movement. We keep referring to him as a little tank because he is so solid & heavy, but I don't want him to turn into a super chubb.

I keep telling myself that he will move in his own time & that he will be fine, but I know how much happier babies are when they can do things for themselves. If he would just start to work on it & try, I think he could do it- but he is very resistant to change. Hopefully by the time I am writing his 9 month review there will be progress to report.

Thanks for your support

Today I participated in the Supercities Walk for MS. It was a cold & dreary morning, but thankfully my friend Tara was participating too so I had someone to talk to for the 10km walk which we did in 1 hour and 40 minutes. This is the most exercise I have had in MONTHS! I am already feeling it in my legs, so I am sure tomorrow morning will be a slow exit from bed.

My goal was to raise $400, but I raised more than $600. Thank you to my friends & family who helped me raise this money that I feel goes to a great cause. You will be hearing from me next year & I might even take Sydney too, but we will see.

Special Time with Nana

Yesterday I left Jason with Grandma & Papa (until Daddy was done work) and took Sydney to my Mom's. Sydney & I did some shopping, had some lunch & then headed to Stratford. She was to spend the night with Nana to allow me to have some "me time" with my friend Sherry in Goderich.

On the way to Stratford she fell asleep in the car& woke up about 10 minutes from my Mom's. When she woke, she asked for her juice but then gave it back to me saying that she didn't want it. She then told me that she was cold & shortly thereafter started to throw up. I pulled over, went to her in the back to be sure that she was alright- as alright as she can be after losing the contents of her stomach all over her. I told her that we were only a few minutes from Nana's & that as soon as we got there we would get her out & get her cleaned up. I called Mom's to warn them of our arrival.

Instead of getting her out of the car seat, I brought her out of the car with the car seat in hopes of not getting anymore vomit in the car than we had too. Good move on my part & then thankfully my brother took care of the rest of the clean-up of the car while my Mom & I got Sydney in the tub. Besides puking, she seemed fine & was happy as a lark once she was clean. I was wondering if I should cancel my visit with Sherry, but Sydney seemed fine & my Mom was fine with me going, so off I went. All Sydney had to say when I left was "bye Mommy".

So, in my time away I got to see a great movie, The Painted Veil, sit & chat with a good friend, sleep without listening for my children, and most favouritely...sleep in until 8:30am!!!

Sydney did have another throw-up session at dinnertime, but my Mom said besides the vomiting that you would not have known that there was anything wrong with her. She was happy, playing, & slept well. She did not eat well, but my Mom wasn't going to push it since when she encouraged Sydney to eat her dinner last night- Sydney ended up putting it all back on the table before the end of the meal. Sounds yummy doesn't it???

Today, they seemed to have a good day. They went to a great store in Stratford, Fundamental Books & Toys, where she got two of her favourite things- a storybook & a sticker book. Then they went to the river to feed the swans & then to the mall for some lunch. Somewhere in their adventures Sydney also managed to get a pair of Crocs. Mom said that Sydney wanted to hold the Crocs in the car. When Mom looked back at her when they were leaving the mall parking lot Sydney had her running shoes off, the Crocs on & she was fast asleep. Obviously still a little under the weather.

She was fine on the way home & the closer we got to home the more animated she became. We put her to bed early tonight & she did have a bit of a fever. Hopefully it is just a 24-hour bug & she will wake up good as new. She is not impressed with Mommy & Daddy that we would not let her have any chocolate after supper. I figure that when she has only eaten one good meal in 24 hours & has very little in her stomach- the last thing she needs is chocolate. She informed us that she isn't sick & that she can have chocolate. I have a feeling that the first thing we may hear from her tomorrow morning is that she feels better & would like some chocolate.


The timing of the puking in the car seat was actually a good one since we were getting a new car seat from Craig this weekend.

I need to get motivated...

Sydney & Jason's matching Easter p.j.'s

I really have no real excuse for not blogging lately, except that I am lazy. I think I am in a slump & I am choosing to blame the weather. It seems so long ago now that we had those really nice days where the sun was warm on your face & you could play outside with the kids without your hands getting cold. It really wasn't that long ago, but the cold weather & snow flurries we have had over the last few days make it seem like it was forever ago.

Although the last week has been dreary weather-wise, it was busy. Thursday was spent preparing for the company we were having on Friday & it was definitely not a stress-free day. I had gotten an egg dying kit to do with Sydney & was hoping that we would have a fun time with this little "activity". The kit had stickers, so after we dyed the eggs together she was going to decorate them with the stickers. However, she dropped two eggs on the floor which brought an end to her individual decorating time & the biggest tantrum she has had to date. The situation got so out of control that I was so "frustrated" with her that I know I further fuelled the tantrum. So we both had to have a time-out so that I could come to the realization that I was the adult in the room & needed to take a step back from my feelings to get her calmed down. All ended well & we were on speaking terms by supper.

On Friday we hosted an Easter Brunch for Brad's family. The food was brunch food, but the time of the meal was after lunch, but I believe it was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and Sydney & Max enjoyed the egg hunt. On Saturday Milos, a man from work, hosted an Easter party & had an egg hunt & egg dying for the kids. It was nice to see some people that I know from work, but it also made me feel very far away from work. A lot of the people there were people that work in Brad's office & quite a few just started working for TU in the last couple of years. So I don't know them very well & was feeling pretty out of touch.

Sunday morning was Sydney's first introduction to the Easter Bunny when it actually means something to her. Jason woke before 7am, so I had brought him into our room to hang out & try & keep him from waking his sister. When Sydney got up she came into our room & Brad went out front to get the paper. When he came in he yelled that he bumped into the Easter Bunny & he said that he left some things for Sydney to find. I wish I had the camera with me. Her eyes went really wide & she told me that the Easter Bunny left her chocolate & she was off running. Last year the Easter Bunny hid eggs with raisins in them, but I guess he knew that wouldn't impress Sydney too much this year. This year they were Hershey Kisses & she was very impressed.

All in all, it has been busy in our household & I just feel like the last few days- all I want to do is sit. Last week Jason treated us to 4 nights where he slept through the night, but now it has been 5 nights where he hasn't. Man on man, I wish he would sleep! Alas, I believe that he is not going to be a kid that we put to bed & hear nothing from until the next morning. Even when he is sleeping well, he will still have a spell or two where he is just awake & I can hear him. I need to learn to go back to sleep when I can hear that he is OK. My lack of sleep & the crumby weather seems to be something that is going to stick around for awhile, so I need to stop procrastinating (which is something that I am great at) and start doing the things I want to do regardless of how I "feel" on a given day.

The Egg Hunt on Good Friday