Impromptu Visit

This morning I received a call from my friend Nadine asking if I had plans today. She wasn't working & was thinking of making the drive my way. She lives in Barrie, so this is no minor suggestion. Of course I was thrilled for her to come & visit with her little guy Adam.

Adam is 6 months older than Sydney & is a BUSY little guy. He demonstrated to me what I have heard about little boys & what they can be like. He was in to everything, but stayed with no one thing for more than 5 minutes. After an hour ALL the toys were out & he was looking for more stuff to get into. If Sydney had been home, she would have been having a FIT!

Nadine of course tried to straighten up the toys before they left, but I had to do a complete clean-up of Sydney's kitchen & her baby stuff to be sure that all was where Sydney left it. Lord knows that she would notice any error when she comes home.

Jason was happy to have visitors two days in a row for entertainment. Adam was quite interested in Jason, but wasn't too cooperative for picture taking. This is the best I could get before he would move onto the next thing.

Jason's First Official Playdate

Last week I called my friend Allison whom I had not spoke for awhile to see if we could get together for a playdate. Her little guy is 3 months older than Jason & we have not seen them since last fall. I have moments of guilt because if I look at my time spent with Jason, it does not seem to be as "social" as my time spent with Sydney by this point in her life. We have been around other kids, but it is always girls and those girls are the younger siblings of Sydney's little friends.

When I called Allison she was happy to hear from me because apparently she has had the same pangs of guilt with Dylan. The kids are at an age when they will actually interact with one another so it was fun to watch them "play" with one another- which really just means they watch what the other is doing. But still it was fun for Jason to be around another boy his age. Hopefully we can ensure that they get more opportunities over the next few months before Allison has to return to work.

Shopping Two Weekends in a Row!!!

I learned over the holidays that friends of ours go shopping about twice a month. When I say shopping I mean browsing through a mall or other similar experience. It is also my understanding that her husband does this willingly. Brad is not a shopper & tends to avoid the experience whenever possible. Well, we are currently on our search for a new bed for Sydney (which will eventually go to Jason's room) & Brad is obviously not willing to leave the decision to me. As a result the poor man has been on 3 separate shopping excursions since last Saturday. Our goal is to find a mate's bed (the beds with storage drawers underneath) because Jason's room is not very big & think that any extra storage will be much needed. However, we are discovering that there is a huge variance of quality out there. Before we are done our search, there are three other stores that I have found for us to visit. Of course two are in Oakville (nowhere close together) & the other is near Stoney Creek- so there is a lot of driving that still needs to be done.

I think maybe Jason & I will try to hit the two in Oakville this week to see if there is anything worth dragging Brad to for a second review. The one store had models you could review on the website, but no prices of course. I may even try to make it to the one near Stoney Creek, but I am not making any promises. Of course, while we are bed shopping we also have our eye out for a new chair for our living room. I am finally ready to get rid of my dad's old recliner because it is just too big. However, I would still like to have a recliner in the living room- I just don't want it to look like a recliner. This search may never end, because I am getting the definite impression that Brad & I are not going to agree on a chair. I also plan for there to be a new couch in our far future (when the kitchen is redone & the kids are older), so the chair that we get now needs to be at least workable with new furniture in our future. I think that Brad's willingness to shop will run out far before we find a chair that we can agree on.

Could Winter Be Coming???

The weather this "winter" has been more like an extended fall. Actually, I think our winter weather has been nicer than our fall. After an unsuccessful nap, due to again landing on his tummy & not being happy about it, Jason & I went out this morning. It was definitely crisp & I think there is now the promise of winter in the air. Hopefully "when" it does come it knows that it is suppose to only stay until mid-March before leaving us again for a long time.

Some accomplishments have their price

I know parents often preen over the new accomplishments of their children, but Jason has just accomplished something that is coming at a cost. He has learned to roll from his back to his tummy, but cannot master the reverse. What does this mean??? Lack of sleep. He has done it in his sleep & then cries because he is stuck. Last night was not a peaceful night. Going & rolling him over is pointless for two reasons: 1- he learns nothing by it & 2- he rolls right back over a few minutes later anyway & you go through it all over again.

I do not remember the pain of this accomplishment with Sydney, but was reminded by a friend when I called her this morning for advice. Although I do not remember this problem with Sydney, I did remember my friend having this issue with her little guy. She told me that I told her that it took Sydney three nights to sort it out. I trust her to be remembering correctly, but was not happy to hear this news. Sydney adjusted to most things at night quicker than Jason has, therefore I am now preparing to be dealing with this issue for quite a few nights to come. Naps today have not been very peaceful, because he is having the same problem in the day. I think tonight we might return to the wedges we used when he was a newborn to see if that does anything to prevent the problem.

All I know is that yet again the Taylor household will not be having peaceful nights.

Welcome 2007

We marked New Year's Eve with yet another toddler party. We were not the hosting party this year, our friends Kate & Rick were- thank you Kate & Rick. I was a little nervous about how things might go. Two year olds are not really known for their patience, calm demeanor, or ability to share & I was wondering how it might go when we put 6 of them in a room together during a typical "witching hour" (supper hour). But, it actually went very well. Again between watching Sydney & taking care of Jason, I did not take any pictures. The only picture I managed to take was of Tyler holding Jason.

New Year's Eve marked a first since before Jason was born. Brad & I have not been out without the kids in the evening since July. We actually have only been out one other time without kids & that was a lunch for our anniversary. Tyler was kind enough to come stay with the kids once we put them to bed & Brad & I went to Ed & Becky's for the annual sit, eat & drink. Although we definitely seem to do more of the eating these days than the drinking. We have come to the conclusion that we are a bunch of old fuddy duddies.

Although I enjoyed my time out, I did not enjoy the minimal sleep I got that night. I was only in bed for an hour and a half before Jason woke to be fed & was then up with him for almost an hour. He then only slept for another couple hours before waking at 5:30am, so needless to say I was not very bright eyed for much of New Year's Day. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that although I was very tired, my host from the night before was also suffering. Not just from a lack of sleep, but also some over indulging.

Now, we are in 2007 & it so far is a very bizarre January- although I can't say that I terribly miss the blizzards & enjoy the sunny weather. Brad is back to work, Sydney is back to daycare for a couple of days & I am trying to return Jason & I to our regular routine. Next week I hope to introduce Jason to the water, because he is now old enough for us to go to Diaperfit. Lord knows I need the exercise (especially when I pulled a muscle yesterday...WALKING!) & I really am hoping that Jason takes to the water like his sister did!

Five Months

Well little guy, we made it through another month. It was a tough one for you & a sleep deprived one for the rest of us. You got two really bad colds this month & had a tough time dealing with it. Thankfully you are all better now & hopefully won't be burdened with one like it again (although I am told that is wishful thinking). Obviously your sister loves you so much that she wants to share everything with you, unfortunately for you colds are harder for you than her.

This month you started to enjoy your bath much more, are trying to grab your feet a lot & are showing a greater interest in toys. You have started to spend more time in the exersaucer & are finally enjoying floor time more. You have started to roll over on your side a lot, but seem quite content to stay there & are not venturing any further. You don't seem to mind when I roll you over, but you don't seem to have any interest in trying it yourself.

Your sleeping pattern is starting to regulate, but you still seem to need to cry for at least 3 minutes before you will go to sleep. You are starting to nap well, but only in your crib & you always wake up after about 30 minutes to cry for about 5 minutes before you go back to sleep. I wish I knew why you must do this. You are still getting up once in the night to be fed, usually around 3am. This month that night feeding was a little longer than previously because you would "talk" after you were fed. This too has improved the past few nights, so I hope that you have finished with that little stage. I really like being back in bed within a half an hour.

In another month you will start to have solids & we think you are going to love it based on how much you love to watch us drink & eat. Until then you will have to remain satisfied with your bottle, which you on occassion have held all on your own!

Belated Christmas Greeting

Well, Christmas was very busy this year & I obviously did not get to the computer to post any updates. The best thing about Christmas this year was to watch Sydney get caught up in the activity, the worst thing was that I was not feeling great for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. I managed to avoid getting sick from anyone throughout December, but had to come down with it over the holidays- figures.

Christmas Eve we went to the children's service at our church & Sydney seemed to really enjoy it. Jason did not get the chance, because he did not wake up from his nap in time. Nana was kind enough to stay with him because we did not want to wake him considering that for the next three days he was going to get carted here, there & everywhere. However, sleeping through the activity seemed to be a pattern that he maintained. He was sleeping for each present opening that occurred on Christmas Day & Boxing Day & he slept through Chistmas dinner. Oh well, next year will be different.

Here are a few pictures from our days.

This was our first Christmas that we stayed at home on Christmas Eve & it was Santa's first trip to our house. I think Sydney was very happy with Santa's selection. Her favourite part of the kitchen? The telephone.

For the first Christmas of their grandchild, Grandma & Papa make something. Max got a rocking camel, Sydney got a gliding horse & Jason got a toy train. He seems pretty happy with Papa's work.

Sydney's favourite part of the Robinson Christmas appeared to be G.G's carmel popcorn. She even told us that she likes it better than chocolate!!!

On Friday Sydney & Jason spent the day with all their Bowman cousins. Jason was awake for more of the festivities this day...

...even the present opening.

Sydney was quite happy to sit with her cousins & watch Dora. Unlike Regan & Bailey, Sydney's priority was not smiling for the camera.

Safe & happy holidays to everyone

They say that a baby's interest in what you are eating or drinking shows a readiness for solids. Well Jason is definitely interested & although he only has a few weeks to wait to sample yummy cereal & mushy veggies, he has a few years to wait to sample what's in Daddy's glass.

Safe travelling everyone.

All I want for Christmas is...

All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep. I have now entered my emotionally fragile stage because I am lacking a good night's sleep. I could probably cry at the drop of the hat & I am beginning to convince myself that Jason will never again sleep well through the night. Jason has a cold with a cough right now & he has not slept well since Friday or Saturday (it seems so long ago, I forget). Last night I think we listened to him moan, talk, or cry for a total of 3 hours. Although that was not 3 consecutive hours, you would only get about 45 minutes of sleep in between the bouts of "noise". I am thankful that he was not really crying for the night, but I do wish that he was settled in a nice quiet sleep- for his sake & ours.

I did not really see Sydney before she left with her Daddy this morning, so I am not sure how well she slept. Brad brought her in to give me a kiss goodbye, but I was barely conscious so I do not know how her morning was. I do know that even Brad was awake for much of the night, so I am sure that he is thankful that today is his last day of work until the new year. I know that I am.

So if the Sleep God is listening, can you please come visit our son in the night & help him to get a good night's rest? I know that the whole household will be much better for it.

This is the boy we want back, he was sleeping well (note that this is all relative right now) during the night & only waking to be fed.

This is the alleged perpetrator who shared the cold with her brother that has in turn taken away our restful nights.

My memory is not what it used to be...

I am trying to think of what we have done in the last week & it honestly seems like a blur. That may have something to do with poor quality sleep over the last few nights in part because of Mr. Magoo. I am really beginning to appreciate how lucky we were with Sydney being such a great sleeper at night. No matter what was going on in her life (i.e. needles, cold, teeth) it never impacted how well she slept at night. She was never much of a napper, but by this point you could count on her sleeping for 10 straight hours at night. By seven months she was sleeping eleven and a half straight hours at night, so I am hoping that in the next 3 months her brother gets there too.

Last Thursday Jason got his 4 month shots & did not sleep well that night, but thankfully napped great on Friday & had a good sleep Friday night. Saturday night I was up a good portion of the night with a splitting headache & when he woke to be fed was up longer than usual. Unfortunately since Jason as found "his voice" he often talks for a bit after his bottle & needs to be rocked for awhile to be encouraged to go back to sleep without waking the house. So yesterday, I was very tired and looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately Jason was up from 11:30 pm until just after 1am & I am not sure if he could not go back to sleep because a) he was overtired from not napping enough during the day, b) he was having stomach pains or c) just suffering the inconvenience of yet another cold. Who knows, but I do know that Brad & I did not get enough sleep and were rather groggy this morning. Thankfully Miss Sydney was spending the night with Grandma & Papa so she was not kept awake too.

So although I cannot really think of what we did in the last week, I do have a couple of what I feel to be worthy mentionables:

• our daycare provider advised me that in the new year our daily rate will drop by $5 a day because Sydney is doing so well with her potty training. At daycare she is hardly having any accidents & when she does she will often go & clean herself up without getting Jo. She often has more trouble at home, but this past weekend she had NO ACCIDENTS! Yeah Sydney! I am hoping that the Cinderella underwear that Santa bought her will take us over the final hurdle.
• last week Sydney said, "Jason doesn't cry anymore". So I figure if a two-year-old has noticed the decrease in crying it definitely must be much better than it was.
• one night Jason slept from 7:30 pm to 5am before waking to be fed- which night that was I can no longer remember

Here also are a few pictures of the kids...

The advantage to Jason being a napper, is that during the day
I can do stuff like this with Sydney.

Jason's current favourite toy.
We will see if that changes after Christmas.

Baby is Sydney's constant companion.
Whatever Mommy is doing with Jason, Sydney does with Baby (that's her name, Sydney insists on it). Baby gets lots of naps, tummy time, sits in the exersaucer, bouncy chair, swing, and up against a pillow. Baby is by far the best garage sale find & I didn't even pick her, the lady just threw her in with the doll stroller we bought.

Sydney helped Mommy bake cookies yesterday. Discovered that this task takes much longer with assistance from a 2-year-old, but is much more fun. Of course, Daddy gave Sydney her Cookie Monster visor to wear while baking cookies.

Christmas Card Picture rejects

A few weekends ago we did the picture of the kids to send in our Christmas cards. The year that Sydney was born we sent a family picture, last year was just Sydney because our attemp to include Logan was not working well, and this year it was just the two kids.

When we did Sydney's picture last year, she was sick with a cold. It appears that may be a recurrent theme each year that we want to take a picture. This year the picture was taken the day that Sydney started to feel better & Jason started to feel sick. Although that did not seem to present too big of an obstacle, getting the picture where they are both looking at the camera & smiling was an obstacle.

After many takes, of which the following are just a few...


...this is the one that we chose to send.

It will be interesting to see if picture taking is easier or harder next year.

Why you do not Christmas shop with a 2-year-old

On Friday Sydney was with me when I bought Brad a Christmas present. On the weekend, out of nowhere she started to tell him what we got him. I quickly told her to "shh" because it was a secret & Brad told me that if I had not said anything he would not have even noticed. Well, it seems that Sydney really wants her Daddy to know what she got him. He told me that this morning she told him that we bought him some shoes- again out of nowhere.

Well, Merry Christmas Brad!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Well, the next round of kid birthday parties have begun. Of the friends that I made when on mat leave with Sydney, Wendy is the bravest. She had baby number two when Ellie was only 18 months old. So today we attended Ellie's little sister Katie's first birthday party.

Brad was out buying Christmas presents for me, so I was doing the single mom thing at the party. It wasn't too bad except Sydney was being exceptionally clingy (a bit of a pattern in the last few days). Between Sydney being glued to my side most of the morning or tending to Jason, I did not take many pictures.

Umm, umm good!

Jason didn't get to have any cake & ice cream,
but he did seem to really enjoy eating his hand.

His sister on the other hand of course ate all the icing on the cake, but not much of the cake. At a table with three other two-year-olds I learned that this is not a trait unique to Sydney.

A Successful Visit to Santa?

Well, as you can see below Sydney would not sit on Santa's knee. The Santa at the mall was really good with her, but she was playing Miss Shy and would not go closer than a foot. We had a lot of time to sit & chat with him before her picture because the printer shut down just as it was our turn. Even though Sydney had the opportunity to get used to him, she would not sit on his knee so Santa asked her if she would drive the sleigh. So that is what she is doing, standing at the front of his sleigh.

I realize it looks like she is superimposed on the picture,
but truly she is standing right in front of Santa.
I sure am glad I did not attempt a picture with her & Jason together.

A Successful Trip to See Santa

Today I again ventured to the mall with Jason & must say it was a rather successful journey. Since he only napped for 15 minutes this morning, I figured I would try a car ride to see if I could get him catch a few extra zzzz. He clocked in an extra 30 minutes before waking. He was rather calm while I made some purchases in Old Navy & then was happy to be fed. I figured we better hit Santa while his belly was full & he was content. I must say, I am pretty pleased with the picture. Although I am wishing I adjusted his pants prior to taking the picture.

Tomorrow Sydney & I are going to see Santa after we meet Daddy for lunch. She has been once with her cousin & it is not a pretty picture. She did not want to go see him tomorrow either, so I am bribing her with ice cream. Wish me luck.

Not exactly what I wanted to hear...

Dr. Koole just called to inform me that Jason's x-ray results did not show signs of pneumonia, but bronchialitis (sp?). Which is good news & bad news wrapped in one. Since bronchial infections tend to be a trend in an individual it means that it is very likely every time Jason gets a cold he will also get cold-induced asthma. This means he will need an inhaler. Great.

Dr. Koole said we will just have to wait until he gets his next cold to see what happens. When I said "Hopefully that won't be this winter" she said, "Yeah right, you just keep telling yourself that. Better yet, add that to your Christmas list." I'd like to be optimistic, but she definitely thinks I need to be realistic.

Oh brother. On top of this information, last night I was watching the news and they were talking about the unnecessary exposure of children to radiation through x-ray. Wasn't that exactly what I wanted to hear a few days after our son has an x-ray?

Santa Claus Parade

This year Sydney experienced her first Santa Claus parade. She fell asleep in the car on the way there, so it took awhile for her to get into it- but I think she did quite enjoy it. She was being rather shy & would not pose for a picture with her cousin Max & his friend Tennison.
I barely got a picture of Santa Claus going by before my battery died on the camera.

The long trek for the christmas tree

Again this year we walked to the local nursery with Sydney's wagon to get our Christmas tree. I stayed home with Jason & Sydney went with Daddy to pick the tree.
This year Sydney also got to try her hand at decorating too. She didn't last too long, but she did a pretty good job.

Four Months Old

Unfortunately on your four month birthday you are suffering from your first sickness. We went to the doctor Friday for your "well baby check-up" where we learned that you weigh 14 lbs 8oz and are 67cm (about 26.5 inches) long. Because you are sick we did not get your shots, but you did need to have a chest x-ray to rule out the chance that you are suffering from pneumonia. You seem better today (Saturday) than you were yesterday, so I think it is safe to believe that you are just suffering from the terrible cold that your sister gave you.

As we started your fourth month, my hope was by the time you turned four months old we would have eliminated that very angry cry of yours- I call it your rage cry. When you are tired, you no longer like to be held & any attempt to put you to sleep resulted in you arching, twisting & turning while you demonstrated your rage cry. Well we have not eliminated it, but we definitely do not hear it as much as we used to. You are getting pretty good at settling yourself to sleep, so the crying typically isn't for very long. However, with you being sick this past week you have started to wake again in the night & we often hear the rage cry at that time- you don't seem to want us at that time, you just seem to be mad that you cannot get back to sleep. I am really hoping that this too will pass & we will all have a more peaceful night's sleep.

For sleeping patterns, you are very regular about your bedtime. We are often working pretty hard to stretch you until 7pm for a bath- you are often ready a half hour to an hour before that. You are typically in bed by 7:30pm, wake once in the night for a quick feeding (prior to this past week around 4am) and then back to bed until around 7:30am. Napping is still all over the map, but again you are much easier to put down for a nap than you used to be- now we just need you to work on sleeping for the length of time you need to feel rested- at least an hour please!

You are really starting to use your hands more now. You are trying to reach for things that are hanging in front of you & if you can get ahold of a toy you are trying to bring it to your mouth. You are getting strong on your legs and really like to stand so we have tried you out in the exersaucer for brief periods & you seem to really like it. I think that you are a bit like you Daddy & being home is your favourite place. You still are not very "portable". You often fuss in the car, stroller, or out in general. I am hoping that as you get more "social" that this will pass, because Mommy doesn't like to be home all the time.

You tolerate tummy time, but don't seem to be making too much effort on trying to figure out how to roll off your tummy. On your back you sometimes try to roll onto your side, but not too often. This is probably a good thing for Mommy & Daddy because you are always moving when we have you sitting in the bouncy chair or trying to hold you- so once you figure out how to move around on the floor- there may be no stopping you.