Crawling

Before I forget to write it down.....

We now have a crawler! Wesley started crawling this week (he is 6 1/2 months) and he is on the move. I hope to get some video this week. It's strange to see this in our house because Xavier never crawled. He went straight to walking at 9 1/2 months. So far Wes' favorite thing to crawl to is people. He gets to you and then tries to crawl up your leg so you'll hold him.

Time to baby proof again!

I Waited All Day for This

Warning -- Total "I'm so proud of my child's bodily functions" kinda post ahead!

It started Saturday evening on a whim. X's diaper was practically hitting the floor but he was going to get a bath in another hour so I didn't want to waste a new diaper for that short time (hello lazy mom!) So he was just going naked and we told him to tell us if he needed to go potty. To our surprise, he actually told us, and when we put him on the potty he went!

We are now on day 4 of full on potty training. It's going pretty well too. We quickly realized that being naked (well, he does have a t-shirt and socks on) is the way to start with him because he needs to be aware of what's going on and the underwear were making him think he had a diaper on. There's a bag of M&Ms in the bathroom for a reward when he goes. Clearly that is his favorite part about all this!

Going #1 has been pretty smooth. He's only had 1 accident (on my sheets of course!) but that could be due to me barely letting him out of my sight and reminding him to tell me if he has to go about every 5 minutes all day long. I'm sick of my own voice at this point.

Going #2 has been a little more challenging. Two days in a row he pooped on my rugs. Our house is 90% hardwood floors but he managed to find that 10% that would require more cleanup :) Both times I've been momentarily out of the room. How convenient! So today I was determined to break that cycle. I watched him like a hawk. I expected him to do his thing this morning, but oh no, that would be too easy. So he and I were stuck like glue all day. Not exactly an easy task when you have another child that needs attention as well.

But finally this evening it all paid off. MY LITTLE BOY WENT POOP ON THE POTTY!
(gosh, the things that change when you have kids. Is this really what I'm excited about in life?)

Tomorrow I'm going to try to reintroduce the underwear and see what happens. I'm going stir crazy in this house all week and I don't think taking him out in public naked would be appropriate.

Exciting times here folks. Aren't you glad you get to read about it :)

Wordless Wednesday - Swinging Smiles

Splash

Great Grandma Mia gave the boys a little swimming pool for the backyard. I think it's safe to say they like it!

X really enjoyed the slide!

One Wrong Click

Did you notice my blog design changed? Um, yeah, I just wanted to adjust the margins a little so the posting space was bigger and I must have hit a wrong button. Now I can't figure out how to get my old design back.

Bummer. Guess I'll tweak this one some more when I have time. It's kinda blah.

Another thing on the to-do list now :(

Giving Gold to a Stranger

Today I gave 25oz of frozen breast milk to a complete stranger. 

Does that weird you out? (just stop reading then!)

Long story short: I semi regularly attend a Le Leche League (breastfeeding support) meeting. I was asked by a friend via that connection if I had any milk I could donate to a local mom who's struggling with nursing and in need of some extra ounces. I immediately said yes. So this evening I packed up a little cooler and drove to the house of a women I'd never met and handed off 25 oz of my "liquid gold", as they say, for her 7 week old baby boy.

Never in my life did I think I would be giving my milk away, much less to a complete stranger, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

To be honest, the whole idea of sharing milk is still a little strange to me. Why? I don't know. Could  I ever feed my child milk from someone else? I'm not sure. All I know is that there is nothing more basic in life than a mother trying to feed her child. And this mom was reaching out for help to do that. So why would I want to say NO if I had the means to say YES?

I had a very challenging experience feeding Xavier. I guarded every drop (literally!) of milk I had because for awhile it was never enough. That experience gives me great empathy. And since this time around, with Wes, has been so different, so great, I have the opportunity to help someone else.

I'm not anti-formula by any means. I am pro-what works best for you and your family. Yes, this mom could have given her baby formula, but she didn't want to. It's not what felt right for her.

So tonight I'm sitting here thinking about this little baby boy that I barely know (I did meet him and talked with the family when I went there -- such sweet people!!!) who will hopefully be a little more content tonight with a full tummy.

Sweet Dreams Baby Boy!

Time Off for Good Behavior

Walter and I got out of the house today...together...without both kids (gasp!) This was our first date in about 7 months. We've gone a few places with just Wes, but we finally became brave enough to leave both kids, and to go further than 5 miles from the house.

AND.IT.WAS.FABULOUS!

Our friends Lynn and Martin came to watch the kids. I was ready with my typed out instructions of the boys' schedules, sticky notes all around, and bottles of thawed milk that I was praying Wes would drink.

With the kids in good hands at home we headed out to cash in some gift certificates for a couples massage. We were running late, as always, so we were speeding on the highway and an old lady gave Walter the finger. How funny!

The massage was wonderful and Walter came out saying he felt 5 years younger. We were like jello! Don't we look refreshed?

After taking care of some business for Wes (thank you Medela battery pack!) we headed across the street for lunch. The meal was great and it was so nice to actually have time to talk without interruptions. We even ran into a friend (Julie! Great to see you!)

Our final stop of the day was Costco. We shopped a little and ate some yummy samples. We looked at all the people with misbehaving kids and laughed at how glad we were that today that wasn't us!

Arriving back home we found both of our children were napping. Apparently Lynn and Martin wore them out because the boys slept for 3 hours!

We decided to take our well rested children and go to church this evening. The service was awesome and we got to hear from of our new associate pastor. Oh yeah, and the boys went in the nursery so we got a bonus hour of kid free time! After church we came home, enjoyed a nice family dinner, and put the kids to bed.

Today reminded me how important it is to have time away from my kids. I often resist, but it's good for me and good for my marriage. I need to make that happen more often. Thank you to Lynn and Martin for taking such good care of our boys and allowing Walter and I some much needed time to reconnect.

There is No Denying It

If there was ever any doubt that my boys look alike I think this settles it.

I've only had X's picture "professionally" taken once. He was 7 months old and the photo hangs in our bedroom. Today Wes has on the same outfit as X did in the picture. So I took it off the wall and decided to do a little comparison. Holy look-a-likes!!!!

This one has almost the identical facial expression!

And here is what X looks like today. He was not amused with my request for this shot! I'm sure I'll be getting this look a lot when he's a teenager.

Xavier Speaks

X's speech is getting more understandable these days (ok, well maybe that's just to me!) but there are still many words that he can't say correctly. There are also some cute things that he says quite often. It's fun to watch him learn language and try to figure out different pronouns and tenses. Most of it he gets mixed up still because he's just repeating what he hears us say to him. I thought I'd jot a few down for memory.

- BeAnna (banana)
- Sweepin (sleeping)
- Zukinky Bread (zucchini) 
- Cwynin (crying)
- Brader (brother)
- Swide (slide)
- Washcoff (washcloth)

- When Wes goes to sleep X always says "When he gets up you can play with him".
- When I'm getting ready in the morning and I go to put on my clothes X says "It's time for what shirt should mommy wear today!"
- When I tell X that I need to go do something he often likes to add to the end of my statement "and then we will play racecars".
- X seems to replace "can I" with "did you" in many instances. When he wants to go wash his hands he says to me "did you wash your hands".
- Wes has started to eat baby cereal but X says he's eating "mini wheats".
- Sometimes if Wes is crying X will go over and say "Wessa, are you tired? You need a nap"

Wordless Wednesday - Cozy Coupe

Strawberry Banana Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

This is easy and really good! I was taking a nap recently (a rare treat) and woke up to this amazing french toast being made on the food network channel. I tried it out for some friends and it was a hit.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (I USED MORE!)
8 (2-inch) thick slices bread (I USED TEXAS TOAST)
2 bananas, very thinly sliced
1 cup strawberries, very thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Maple syrup


Directions
Combine milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

For assembly, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese onto 1 side of the bread slices. Top half the slices with the fruit. Place another piece of bread on top, cream cheese side down, creating a sandwich.

Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees F. Lightly brush with the butter.

Give the milk mixture a quick stir, and dip the sandwiches into the batter, coating all sides.

Place on the griddle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then turn on the edges and cook to brown evenly.

To serve, slice sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup

Yum!
I forgot to take a picture of it though. Guess that gives me an excuse to make it again.

Official Fans

Over the 4th of July weekend we also took the boys to the baseball game. X went last year but this was Wes' first game. But, we pretended like it was the first time for both boys because you can get an official fan certificate with their name on it and a gold seal for free at guest relations. You know, because I need more random pieces of paper around my house :)

Brett (or "Uncle Miegs" as X likes to say) and his friend Christine invited us along and we were happy to attend! It was pretty hot though and our seats were in the sun. So, we ended up only sitting in them for about 5 minutes. We opted to hang out in the shade next to the misting machine for awhile. Then we moved down a few sections and snagged some shady seats that were great. We lost (12-5 I think) but had fun anyway.

Wes hangin in the shade to protect his pasty white little legs!

This was from our 5 minutes in the sun. X was not diggin it!

X and Uncle Brett checking out the view

Walter and his boy

Brett and Christine

X opted to sit alone.

He's too cool to be seen with his parents.

Wes wearing the hat that X's ice cream came in!

Christine had a slap bracelet -- remember those??!! That was 99 cents well spent. X loved it!

Our group with an awesome backdrop!

Since the Cards were losing pretty bad the stadium started to clear out early. X took advantage of some open seats to wear off some energy. He got in and out of the chairs a zillion times.

Brunch Bunch

We started off the 4th of July weekend by having some friends over for brunch. What a fun group! We all have 2 year olds, Brian and Andrea have a daughter a few weeks younger than Wes, and Ruth and Al are expecting twin boys later this year! Our brunch was delicious. Andrea made the most AMAZING cinnamon rolls. They were heavenly! Cinnabon's got nothin on her! I wish I would have taken a picture of them before I dove face first into my plate because they were huge and gooey and wonderful. After we ate we took the kids outside to run around a bit.

Win was kind enough to cut the grass for us.

Xavier rode around the patio

Noelle guarded the playhouse door

And the adults just stood in the shade and watched (and Imogen slept inside)

 Ruth, Al, and Noelle chillin in the hammock.

Look at Brian and Andrea. Don't they look like a couple of newlyweds!!

After that shot Xavier decided he wanted to pretend he was their kid and get in on the picture.

Just for kicks, here's a pic of the first time Brian and Andrea met X. He was just 2 weeks old I think.

Thanks for coming over everyone!

A Whole Half of a Year!

Wesley is 6 months old today. Wow, a whole half of a year has gone by.

Six months ago today I was trying to take a nap and watching a really bad collection of television (because there is never anything good on to watch on a holiday unless you like sports) as I finally enjoyed an epidural! The hours ticked by and we were starting to think that this baby might hold out another day (I'd already been in labor for about 40 hours). But alas, Wes decided to make his debut in the evening after all the football games were over, and gave me the most wonderful birth experience! EVERY time I think about my VBAC I am so thrilled!

But enough about me....here's what Wes is up to these days!

 The bathroom scale says he's 17lbs. He's wearing mostly 9-12 month clothing. Some people think he's coming into his own look but others say he's the spitting image of X. No teeth yet, but he's starting to drool a lot.

- Wes is a pretty happy baby. He smiles and laughs fairly easily. He's learned to blow raspberries and put a big ol chunk of spit in my eye the other day! Xavier still ranks as his favorite person I think, and they continue to get along fabulously. Wes is content to play on his own for awhile but never turns away an opportunity to be entertained directly. He likes peekaboo and loves to be held and snuggled.

- We have started some solids this week. So far Wes has had rice cereal and a little applesauce. He seems to like both and is actually pretty good at opening his mouth for the spoon and getting the food down.

- We bid farewell to the bouncy seat, the swing, and the bumbo this past month. Our boy is just too strong for them and would try to pull himself right out. Wes is now sitting up mostly unassisted. I'm not brave enough to put him directly on the hardwoods, but he's steady enough to be left alone on the carpet. He is also very close to crawling. He gets on all fours, moves his legs all round, and rocks his butt back and forth. But he hasn't figured out that he needs to move his arms too.

- Wes has finally made friends with the car seat and only on rare occasion does he cry in the car. I can't tell you how wonderful that is! He's a light sleeper in the car though and that's kind of a bummer because he always wakes up when the car stops.

- Sleep is still iffy for the boy in general. He usually takes 2-3 naps a day but their length and times vary from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Total nighttime sleep is about 11 hours, but he's not sleeping straight through. In the past 6 weeks or so his nighttime waking has become totally erratic. He usually wakes up within an hour of going to bed and after that it's a big question mark. He could sleep 2 hours, he could sleep 7. You just never know. It's a little frustrating, but at least he goes back to sleep fairly quickly if you feed and snuggle him! I'm not into CIO, it's just not my style, so for now I'll give him the attention he needs at night.

- Favorite toys are pretty much anything he can get to his mouth! He is partial to plastic cups, board books, and an orange spatula though. He also enjoys playing (eating) blocks with X. Wes also takes great pleasure in pulling my hair and trying to strangle me to get to my necklace.

Happy 6 months Wessa Blessa!