8 Months Update

So already at 8 months now! And lots to report on over the past few weeks:) First off, Neko finally moved in with Keller and it's been going just fine, thank goodness! It happened after a few nights of me and/or Trav not sleeping well with a noisy baby sleeping in the room with us. Then on top of the general noisiness of his sleep, he had a cold and was snoring and now I really wasn't sleeping so it was move him up to the living room or bite the bullet and stick him in with Keller. And so we did. And now I/we sleep better in our own room though our wake-up time is now a bit earlier (6/6:30) which stinks but is better than being up throughout the night and/or at 4:30, 5:00, 5:30....and so it goes. At first we would run in to remove the "awake" child in the morning so as to not wake the other but this was not always successful. Often the sleeping child would awaken at the sound of the door or both would be "up" upon walking in. So now we've just let child 1 or child 2 whine or cry for a few minutes and are finding that they sometimes will go back to sleep! Nice! So this morning we got to "sleep-in" to 7:15 which is perfectly fine considering what we've been dealing with! It was also so nice to disassemble Neko's "dresser/shoe organizer" hanging on the back of our bedroom door and move him entirely in to Keller's room, now "The Boys' Room"...They are both napping in there now, 2 hours in...so glad it's working out! Now we won't have to move for years to come! Ha! Right!

Neko is now doing the inchworm/army scoot. While on his belly, he uses his little toes to project him forward. It almost looks like he's swimming the butterfly when he on a mission to get something. Very cute. I don't remember Keller really doing that. I remember him sliding backwards but not really forward though he must have. Neko also figured out how to get to sitting up on his own. It kind of threw him off a little at first because when we'd put him down to go to sleep and leave the room, we'd go in to check on him if he kept crying to find that he was sitting up (oh so cutely and oh so sadly) in his crib and once sitting, didn't know how to lay back down. It's such hard work being a baby!

Neko also pushed out a little tooth on the bottom, during his first week in the shared room. I think we got/get some little screaming bouts from it on and off in the night. I must say though it's nice that when the little guy needs some kind of comfort, we can give him his bink as a "special treat"---that almost always makes everything better. He still doesn't use it to sleep with though which to us is ideal. We have it in a pinch or to soothe or hold him over if we're out and about or getting ready to feed him.

Delicious!

He's been talking up a storm with the "babababa's and mamamamama's and the occasional "dah or gah"...He drools a lot:) and has been perfecting his raspberrying, too! He LOVES the tubby tub and will sit and splash for as long as we let him. Him and Keller are good bath buddies:)

He's a good eater, eating oatmeal and mixed grain cereal and a variety of fruits and veggies. Haven't given him any real food bits yet, just the baby foods...oh, and smashed banana. Over the next month we'll be getting him ready to eat more "lumpy" foods! And some "O's" At the moment, he's awake in his crib growling! "Arah...mmmmm....bahbah...mah,mah..." He's cute and delicious and I love him oh so much!

Are those......

CRAMPS???? Noooooooo!!!! Oh how I haven't missed you for the last 2.5 years!!

De-Binked

Wow--didn't realize it has been almost a month since my last post...time is flying right by! So to begin, I'll go with the title-track...De-Binking the Babe...Yes, it had to be done. I've never been a fan of the bink, Keller didn't care for it so we didn't have to deal with it as far as he went (though there were certainly times we WISHED he would take it) but Neko has been another story from Day 1. And I know, he's little, it's fine, it soothes him, helps him sleep, etc, etc...But, it was making us nuts! Not that he depended on it during the day, but it definitely was expected for sleep. I would nurse and then he'd open his mouth for me to plop it into and he'd practically fall asleep upon contact with the bink. Great, right? Sort of. The falling asleep part was never the problem. It was really the waking up part and requiring re-binking. I went so far as putting several binks in the crib so when he did his frantic grabbing around to try to find one when he woke he had a better chance. But he didn't always find one so we would have to get up and re-insert. This wasn't usually required until let's see, 4am, 4:30, 4:45, 5:00, 5:15...you get the idea? Right at that prime last couple of hours of sleep...ugh!! So the kid didn't really know how to fall asleep without the bink and that to us was a problem. We would try to leave him cry to fall asleep and occasionally it would work, but we were not consistent, which as you know is key in kicking any habit...And so we went for it and tried him going to sleep with no bink on Sunday night and he screamed and screamed--oh how that breaks my heart to hear, especially knowing that if I just stuck this little plastic baby-crack into his mouth he'd be happily asleep. Trav ended up going in and holding him to fall asleep on his chest (if I had tried that, he'd be frantic for booby...) so he finally was quietly asleep, woke a couple of times in the night but was able to go back to sleep on his own...Slept through to maybe 5:30 and began chatting away until I finally fed him around 6:30. Next night, I nursed him, he opened his mouth for the bink, tried hard to find something to stick in his mouth, and finally sucked some air (how sad) then his hand, then began talking with his hand in his mouth and finally seemed to settle down enough to be put into his crib. Went to sleep on his own, no screaming:) Slept through to 6 and began chatting away in his crib in the am...Last night was similar and tonight he didn't even "suck air"...I think he gets it now and is no longer "bink dependent" to sleep, big sigh of relief for us and seemingly for him too. I've used it here and there during the day a couple of times when things are a little hectic and he's awaiting a feeding or is tired and I can't put him down to sleep just yet and man oh man, he loves that thing! And I don't mind giving it to him in that situation. We just needed him to be able to fall asleep on his own I think. But anyway. I'm glad that Trav and I were able to help each other out in figuring this dilemma out. A mommy and a daddy seem to have different ways of doing things, and somehow, a little of each of their ways seems to do the trick. And for that, I'm grateful!

Started the babysitting thing again. Afternoons only. It's a bit of a pain lugging Neko's carseat and Keller in and out of the school to pick the little girl up, but we only have to do that every other week so no biggie! Keller and Neko both take naps at the house we're at and it has worked out great! We've there for 3-5 hours depending on the day, and they have been sleeping for about two of the hours there...great! I've got a little figuring out to do as far as dinner planning for the evenings we don't get home until close to 7--I think I just need to feed at least Keller dinner there...he's just exhausted when we get home...it's tiring trying to keep up with a couple of big kids, and a house full of new toys! Even with a two hour nap in there! And I get to do some girly stuff with the 4 year old when my boys are asleep:) It's actually a nice change--and I still manage to have my afternoon naptime tea! (Very important!)

Went to the gym 3 times last week. (Vicky is my inspiration, really!!) It helped that Trav was home on Monday, then on Thursday I went when in the morning before Trav went to work, and on Saturday I had a free promotional training session (from an ECSU alumni...2005?), and Sunday I went just to keep the muscles moving so my soreness from the training session didn't totally kick my butt! And if I'm lucky I can go on Friday morning, and Sat/Sunday...not ideal as far as spacing it out, but hey, take it when you can get it, right? I am seriously considering paying for 10 half-hour personal training sessions...I remember once telling the "hard-sell" guys at Bally's as they were trying to get me to pay for training "The only time I'd ever pay someone to get me in shape is after I have babies" and alas, many years later, here I am! So, we'll see. I've rationalized that I can easily use the babysitting money for such a luxury. And that it would MAKE me get to the gym at least once a week. Who knows what I'll end up doing. I'm just glad that I finally reacquainted myself with the gym. I like to exercise. But not too early and not too late...

Keller is 2. He acts like a 2 year old now. He's trying out the "fresh" buttons. He knows this and it seems to make it even more fun. He was put into his crib today for not listening to mommy. After mommy went in and asked if he knew why he was put in his crib, he said, "because I was naughty." He knew he should have given mommy the washcloth when she asked for it. He admitted it. (yes, big offense, right? lets call this offense the last straw...) He apologized to mommy. It sort of went like this...He's standing inside his crib, holding on to the rail..."I'm sorry mommy..." followed immediately by, "I'm jumping on the bed now!!!" I left the room in defeat...

BoBo ate up Keller's lightey uppey ball today.

I think we all need a little sunshine, warmth, and fresh air really soon!!