- time with my husband
- music
- my son's laugh
- poetry
- forgiveness
- coffee
- communication
- God's promises
- sunshine
- flowers
- love
What are you thankful for today? Count your blessings, seize the day, redeem the time.
Go with God,
Bee
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Of waking and watching and walking
Weather or teething - J was up twice last night and wouldn't go back to sleep until I fed him. Thankfully he's napping well this morning.
Everything is new and interesting to this child, whether it be people (watch suspiciously), toys (attack!) or food (nomnomnom). We introduced rice crispies this weekend, which seem to have gone over well. They are helping him develop his fine motor skills, keep him entertained, and I can easily carry some with me in case of emergency. Currently most of them do not end up in his mouth, but he has fun trying and I don't worry about him choking.
The quiet book I'm working on is coming along slowly - it would help if I could find my hot glue gun.
Yesterday I took J (7 months) and my 2 nieces (1 and 3 years) out for a walk so their mom could get some things done around her house (she is due with her 3rd child in Nov, hooray!). Having 3 littles in my care at the same time was interesting, but not as difficult as I might have feared. We have a double stroller so J and Thing 2 rode and I kept Thing 1 on a tether (read: leash) so as to be sure she wouldn't run out into the street (although it is a nice quiet neighborhood so cars are rare). We were out for almost an hour and I quite enjoyed myself. I brought along teddy grahams as bribes and those seemed to go over well with all 3 littles.
I have so many pictures to post, but I need to get a couple more things done before the Boy wakes up.
Blessings,
Bee
Everything is new and interesting to this child, whether it be people (watch suspiciously), toys (attack!) or food (nomnomnom). We introduced rice crispies this weekend, which seem to have gone over well. They are helping him develop his fine motor skills, keep him entertained, and I can easily carry some with me in case of emergency. Currently most of them do not end up in his mouth, but he has fun trying and I don't worry about him choking.
The quiet book I'm working on is coming along slowly - it would help if I could find my hot glue gun.
Yesterday I took J (7 months) and my 2 nieces (1 and 3 years) out for a walk so their mom could get some things done around her house (she is due with her 3rd child in Nov, hooray!). Having 3 littles in my care at the same time was interesting, but not as difficult as I might have feared. We have a double stroller so J and Thing 2 rode and I kept Thing 1 on a tether (read: leash) so as to be sure she wouldn't run out into the street (although it is a nice quiet neighborhood so cars are rare). We were out for almost an hour and I quite enjoyed myself. I brought along teddy grahams as bribes and those seemed to go over well with all 3 littles.
I have so many pictures to post, but I need to get a couple more things done before the Boy wakes up.
Blessings,
Bee
Monday, March 19, 2012
People, parades and pickles
The last week and a half have felt so busy and crazy, but lots of good things have happened.
We have amazing family members willing to babysit for J - Shelbs and I got to go on a date, I was able to go do a job for work, we went to see my sister's documentary premiere and we participated in 2 parades just in the last week and a half. Oh, and that is just what regular people would call family - my friends helped out so that I could go wedding dress shopping with a pal on Fri and grocery shopping while J slept on Sun. We are So. Very. Blessed. to have so many people care about us and love J. They are who I thank God for on a regular basis.
On the subject of things to be thankful for: my sister is pregnant again! Her 3rd baby is due the day before my birthday in Nov (actually the day I was due on!) and I am so excited for her! She currently has 2 girls, and while it would be just fine to have another it would also be nice if she had a boy so J has someone there to play with once he gets to the age that girls are gross.
Fortunately J already has a boy "cousin" who adores him: Miles, the son of my She'endre (sister by choice) Tab, turned 2 shortly after J was born. So far they get along famously (which I think is a little funny because when I was first pregnant Miles wouldn't go near me [but was far more friendly to "Uncle" Shelbs than before!]). J is just over 7 months so right now they get along by J sitting in the middle of the room watching Miles run around like crazy occasionally bringing toys over for J to play with then coming back later to take them away. As soon as J is strong enough to hold a sword I'm sure Miles will be teaching him how to fence and they will drum and dance and joust and be all sorts of what other people might deem as "weird" but what we will see as adorable and inevitable.
And speaking of adorable and inevitable: my son has teeth! Friday morning I found he had cut not 1 but 2 teeth overnight, giving him a new edge in the nomming department. Nursing may be going the way of the dodo sooner than anticipated if he keeps chomping down as he does occasionally! He has been trying more and more new things lately, including pickles! Ugh. I hate pickles and was fully ready to believe that my son would too, but my dear hubby let J nom on a pickle Sat and he loved it. *sigh* Must be something else he learned from Miles - that child teethed on pickles all the time.
Well, I have more to ramble on about but will leave it for another time as I really need to try to get my Bible reading in before J wakes up from his nap.
God bless!
Bee
We have amazing family members willing to babysit for J - Shelbs and I got to go on a date, I was able to go do a job for work, we went to see my sister's documentary premiere and we participated in 2 parades just in the last week and a half. Oh, and that is just what regular people would call family - my friends helped out so that I could go wedding dress shopping with a pal on Fri and grocery shopping while J slept on Sun. We are So. Very. Blessed. to have so many people care about us and love J. They are who I thank God for on a regular basis.
On the subject of things to be thankful for: my sister is pregnant again! Her 3rd baby is due the day before my birthday in Nov (actually the day I was due on!) and I am so excited for her! She currently has 2 girls, and while it would be just fine to have another it would also be nice if she had a boy so J has someone there to play with once he gets to the age that girls are gross.
Fortunately J already has a boy "cousin" who adores him: Miles, the son of my She'endre (sister by choice) Tab, turned 2 shortly after J was born. So far they get along famously (which I think is a little funny because when I was first pregnant Miles wouldn't go near me [but was far more friendly to "Uncle" Shelbs than before!]). J is just over 7 months so right now they get along by J sitting in the middle of the room watching Miles run around like crazy occasionally bringing toys over for J to play with then coming back later to take them away. As soon as J is strong enough to hold a sword I'm sure Miles will be teaching him how to fence and they will drum and dance and joust and be all sorts of what other people might deem as "weird" but what we will see as adorable and inevitable.
And speaking of adorable and inevitable: my son has teeth! Friday morning I found he had cut not 1 but 2 teeth overnight, giving him a new edge in the nomming department. Nursing may be going the way of the dodo sooner than anticipated if he keeps chomping down as he does occasionally! He has been trying more and more new things lately, including pickles! Ugh. I hate pickles and was fully ready to believe that my son would too, but my dear hubby let J nom on a pickle Sat and he loved it. *sigh* Must be something else he learned from Miles - that child teethed on pickles all the time.
Well, I have more to ramble on about but will leave it for another time as I really need to try to get my Bible reading in before J wakes up from his nap.
God bless!
Bee
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Playtime
Playtime!
Playtime does not have to include expensive toys. Today J and I played with tupperware "blocks".
He enjoyed the texture of them in his mouth.
"Hello Momma"
He liked the feel of the plate.
When it seemed he was getting bored I filled the containers with random objects: paper scraps, uncooked pasta, marshmallows, bottle top, bottle caps and safety pins.
He wasn't quite sure what to think of all that.
So I let him explore things by touch.
He was fascinated by the different textures of things, as well as the fact that I rarely let him hold things that small. Here's a tip: keep your eye on your infant if you're going to give him things that will fit in his mouth. I spent this entire time on the floor with him, so I wasn't worried about him choking on anything.
Marshmallows were also a big hit, although he was more interested in trying to taste these than the pasta.
Then we learned how to shake the containers to make noise.
In the end though, he really does just like that plate.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sleep
Last weekend my sister-in-law came into town for a visit. While here she spent a lot of time with J, including babysitting. Saturday night her and her mom spent the evening with J and when we got home I discovered they had swaddled him. Now, we had stopped swaddling J about a month ago, and things seemed to be going well but I certainly wasn't going to un-swaddle him in the middle of the night for no reason. Well J slept pretty well that night; I was still up with him way too often, but he didn't need to be brought into our bed to be able to finish out the night, and that was definitely a plus for me (not that I have anything bad to say about people who do co-sleep, I would just prefer not to myself). The week that followed we kept swaddling him with mixed results: he seemed a little better, but not as much as I would have liked him to be and he was still ending up in our beds most nights somewhere around 2 in the morning when I am unable to deal with him not sleeping).
Then came Friday night.
Shelbs and I have been talking about trying to let J cry it out at night to see if it might help him learn to sleep on his own. After talking to some moms I know, doing some research and psyching ourselves up mentally we set Friday night to begin the program.
When J woke up a couple of hours later that evening to eat I fed him, made sure he had a clean diaper, and put him back in his crib - awake. Goodness did he ever hate that! For the next 45 minutes Shelbs and I took turns going into his room to check on J and do what we could to calm him before heading back to the living room to distract ourselves from the sound of his wailing. Once he fell asleep he slept for 6 1/4 hours before waking to eat again - that's the longest he's slept in months!
Saturday he went down with barely a fuss, slept for 5 1/2 hours before waking to eat. Sunday night he didn't wake for a 9:30 feeding - instead he slept from 7:30pm to 4:30am before he woke to eat!
I cannot properly express how exciting that was (and painful, as anyone who has nursed will tell you!).
I can't say I wish we had tried crying it out sooner: I needed to know J was able to physically handle it, and Shelbs and I needed to be emotionally ready for it. But I'm so very glad we finally decided to try it. 45 minutes of crying for one night was so worth it. I know for some people it takes longer, and I know 3 days isn't enough to prove anything for certain, but I'm so happy at the progress we have made thus far.
For now we will keep swaddling J at night, but I think we will probably wean back off it fairly soon if things keep going as they are sleep wise.
Now if only I could get to be a bit earlier to take more advantage of that sleep time it would be great!
Then came Friday night.
Shelbs and I have been talking about trying to let J cry it out at night to see if it might help him learn to sleep on his own. After talking to some moms I know, doing some research and psyching ourselves up mentally we set Friday night to begin the program.
When J woke up a couple of hours later that evening to eat I fed him, made sure he had a clean diaper, and put him back in his crib - awake. Goodness did he ever hate that! For the next 45 minutes Shelbs and I took turns going into his room to check on J and do what we could to calm him before heading back to the living room to distract ourselves from the sound of his wailing. Once he fell asleep he slept for 6 1/4 hours before waking to eat again - that's the longest he's slept in months!
Saturday he went down with barely a fuss, slept for 5 1/2 hours before waking to eat. Sunday night he didn't wake for a 9:30 feeding - instead he slept from 7:30pm to 4:30am before he woke to eat!
I cannot properly express how exciting that was (and painful, as anyone who has nursed will tell you!).
I can't say I wish we had tried crying it out sooner: I needed to know J was able to physically handle it, and Shelbs and I needed to be emotionally ready for it. But I'm so very glad we finally decided to try it. 45 minutes of crying for one night was so worth it. I know for some people it takes longer, and I know 3 days isn't enough to prove anything for certain, but I'm so happy at the progress we have made thus far.
For now we will keep swaddling J at night, but I think we will probably wean back off it fairly soon if things keep going as they are sleep wise.
Now if only I could get to be a bit earlier to take more advantage of that sleep time it would be great!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Quiet Book
My friend, Tabitha, and I are going to be each others accountability in a new project: quiet books. They look like such fun, but I'm already starting to get an idea that they will be time consuming in the extreme. That's OK though, we're going to try getting together on Thursday mornings and work on them - I know that I will at least get some work done on those Thursdays, and I'll be spending time with a good friend and her son! This project excites and frightens me, and I'm looking forward to it. If you don't know what a quiet book is you can get a pretty good idea by googling it.
J is "talking" a lot now; he will sit on the floor and play while I'm at the computer and he just talks away, either at me or at his toys I'm not sure. It is so sweet.
He will sit, left leg tucked in, right leg sticking straight out, for long periods of time now. Just have to keep half an eye on him as he will occasionally crash one way or the other.
He is learning to drink from a cup! He's been watching his Daddy and me and wanting to try so we've been giving him sips of water here and there. He seems to really enjoy it! The sippy cup hasn't worked very well because he does not understand that you are supposed to suck rather than chew on the mouth piece, so we are simply trying without it for now.
I ought to start loading the car now. It is amazing how much stuff you need to carry for you and a baby when you are planning to spend the day somewhere!
J is "talking" a lot now; he will sit on the floor and play while I'm at the computer and he just talks away, either at me or at his toys I'm not sure. It is so sweet.
He will sit, left leg tucked in, right leg sticking straight out, for long periods of time now. Just have to keep half an eye on him as he will occasionally crash one way or the other.
He is learning to drink from a cup! He's been watching his Daddy and me and wanting to try so we've been giving him sips of water here and there. He seems to really enjoy it! The sippy cup hasn't worked very well because he does not understand that you are supposed to suck rather than chew on the mouth piece, so we are simply trying without it for now.
I ought to start loading the car now. It is amazing how much stuff you need to carry for you and a baby when you are planning to spend the day somewhere!
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