Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Busting at the seams

Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts.  We are in the throws of putting our home on the market.  With two growing boys, and all the accessories that seem to come with them, we are just completely out of room around here!

Yes, it seems, we have outgrown our cozy little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1900sq ft. bright, airy and open home (and might I add immaculate and loaded with upgrades like hardwood floors and granite counter tops).  Sooooo, if you know of anyone that would like to take this beauty (that is conveniently located within walking distance to hiking trails, a fantastic elementary school and TWO parks) off our hands, please have them contact our amazing Realtor, Brenda Williams of Houston Fine Homes!!

Here is a video of my adorable children as a consolation prize for putting up with my shameless plug.  I will warn you, if you are not of the grandparent persuasion, you may will find this incredibly boring.  I promise fireworks next time.  No really, fireworks. I have pictures for a 4th of July post I need get up before it's August!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Weaning 7 month old (?!)

In the next 6 weeks, I need to wean Jack who currently nurses on demand throughout the day and he currently eats just a bite or two of baby food at each sitting and only takes a bottle if REALLY hungry.

This is a loose interpretation of our typical day. If any of you have any advice (ie: step-by-step directions) on how to go about this, please share!

7:30 to 8 a.m.: Everybody is up and Jack nurses.

8 a.m.: Jack is offered cereal and/or fruit baby food (which he eats very little of) while Carter eats breakfast. Then, I offer Jack a 4oz bottle of formula (of which, he currently drinks zilch).

8:30 to 9 a.m.: Jack plays on the floor while Carter watches cartoons and I get dressed. Then, Jack nurses before going down for a nap (should this be the first feeding I drop??).

Between 9:30 and 10 a.m.: Jack goes down for a nap and I try to spend time entertaining Carter and squeeze in some laundry and cleaning. Exceptions are trips to the gym a few days a week...everybody gets packed up and Jack naps in child-watch (poor second child).

Between 11:30 a.m. and noon: Jack wakes up from his nap and nurses. I prepare lunch for the kids. Jack has a few bites of veggie baby food and he also gets finger foods to play with and a sippy cup of water. Then I offer him a 4oz bottle (usually the same one from breakfast) which he thinks is comical.

1 p.m.: Carter goes down for a nap and I spend some one-on-one time with Jack.

Between 1:30 and 2 p.m.: We try for our second nap. Jack usually nurses before sleeping (should this be the first feeding I drop??).

4 p.m.: Everybody is up, and Jack nurses while Carter has a snack.

4 to 5:30 p.m.: The boys play or if need be, we run quick errands.

6 to 6:30 p.m.: We have dinner. Jack has a few bites of baby food with finger foods from our plates (which he hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet). I also offer him that same bottle of formula before dumping in down the drain.

7 to 7:30 p.m.: The kids have some playtime while we clean up from dinner then bath time.

8 p.m.: Pj's are on all the kids, and Carter is read stories.

8:30 p.m.: Carter goes to bed.

9 p.m.: I nurse Jack and put him to bed.

You might be wondering why I am so clueless having weaned before. That is because the last time around we weaned in the span of about 2 weeks, not 6, and Carter was wolfing down the solids. Not so much this time around, so I am not sure where to begin.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I must write.

Something...gotta write something, I am so behind, though, I don't know where to start.

Carter's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He is a parrot in every sense, and I will admit, hearing what I say coming from the mouth of my child is very self effacing. He is smart. REALLY smart. He knows all his letters, upper and lower case. He knows the sounds they make and to take it a step further, if you ask him "what words start with 'P'?" he will rattle off a dozen appropriate words. He knows all of his colors and dozens of shapes including octagon, hexagon, trapezoid and parallelogram. He is still shaky on numbers, but I have no doubt he will master those in short order. He is a good sized toddler with incredibly wide feet. He does somersaults with perfect form and is tall enough to reach anything on the counters. He can climb on top of any surface in the house and does if I am not paying attention. He kicks with his left foot and throws with his left hand, but he hammers, eats and writes with his right hand. He is getting pretty good at catching, and throws pretty well. We haven't tried batting yet...I am fearful of indoor batting practices. He loves puzzles, blocks, large legos and balls. His favorite activities are reading, coloring, dancing and sadly watching TV. I am trying to get better about limiting that last one as it has become a crutch during the hot months (which in south Texas are Feb - November). He has recently started to 'read' some of his favorite books. "I Love You Through and Through" was the first one he 'read' us, and "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear" was the second. It's so cute to hear him.

Jack is a joy. He is definitely figuring out that he needs to speak up or his older brother will get all the attention (as in the squeaky wheel gets the grease, not as in we ignore him because we love Carter more). He is getting his little hind end up under him like he might crawl, but no forward progress just yet. He does get around quite well rolling and scooting (mainly backwards). He is the smiliest baby to ever exist, and the cuddliest. He will actually hug you...it's the best feeling in the whole wide world. He is babbling more, but mainly vowel sounds. Just in the last day or so, I have heard some 'mmmm' sounds, but other than that, it is just lots of different pitched 'ahhhhhs'. At the moment, he takes three naps a day, but I have a feeling we will be dropping one of those in the next month or so. We have started solid foods, mainly a little baby food at dinner time, but he's not too interested yet. Oddly enough, carrots and peas have been the two biggest hits. Peaches and prunes the least popular. Still concerned about some discrepancy between his motor skill development on the right vs. left side, mainly in his legs. ECI is coming out to evaluate this month, but I am worried they will just see a bright happy thriving child and not see what I am seeing. In re-reading that last sentence, I realize how strange I sound, but while he IS happy and thriving, there IS something going on with his motor skill development and while it may be something that will just correct itself with time, as a parent I want to make sure I do everything I can to be proactive about the situation. He is not sitting up yet, but he is getting there. He is pretty steady in the Bumbo and with enough pillows around him, he can sit propped up for a few minutes before tumbling to one side or the other. He doesn't bear his weight on his legs except for a few seconds, which bothers me, but he is strong and I have no doubt he will be running after his brother as soon as he possibly can. Already, he just lights up every time he sees Carter. He gets so excited and starts wiggling and flapping as if he is just trying to will himself after him.

Carter is becoming more and more aware of Jack too. The other day, I was fixing dinner and Jack was fussing. Not being at a point where I could walk away, I asked Carter to go 'talk to baby Jack'. I didn't actually think he would do anything, but it was worth a shot. A few seconds later I realized Jack wasn't fussing anymore. I peered into the living room to see Carter laying on the floor next to him and they were just smiling at each other. Another time, I was rocking Jack and he was crying and Carter brought me a pacifier for him, which was just what he needed. And Carter loves to come with me to check on Jack when he is sleeping. When we tip-toe into Jack's room, Carter will hold his finger up to his mouth and say 'shhhh baby Jack is sleeping' :)

I think I always assumed I would have a favorite...not one that I shouted from the rooftops was my favorite, but one that I secretly favored. I mean, honestly, how can you love two people the same amount? Yet, I can say, I love them both infinitely. I love each of them for their very different strengths, and I love each of them more for their relationship with one another.

So, lots of rambling, but I needed to capture a snapshot of life as we currently know it before my mushy mommy brain lost the memories for good. If you kept up with me, thanks, if not, no hard feelings :)

Promise to have more pics and videos in future posts.


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sun drenched

Recently did our bi-annual family photo session with the fabulous Mackenzie Wheatley of Chubby Foot Photography. Note to self, 9am is not nearly early enough to beat the south Texas heat. We were all DRENCHED with sweat minutes into the shoot. The fact that I got overly ambitious and had Mr. C haul furniture into a field did not help things in the slightest. Still, Mackenzie's talent won out and I was just blown away, yet again, by what she captured.

Here are a few of the highlights!








Saturday, July 3, 2010

On second thought...

Un-privitizing the blog. Turns out the 'rents don't have gmail accounts and didn't really feel like creating them, and since they comprise well over 70 percent of my 'avid readers' list, we've opened the blog back up to the viewing public (cue deafening applause, or crickets, whatever, it all sounds the same on this end :).

Don't worry, if you haven't been able to view it, you haven't missed anything. I have been choosing sleep over blogging the last few months (craziness, I know), but I've got my priorities back on track as we are now the proud owners of a new.....wait for it....MacBook!! So I foresee many an irrisponsibly late night in my future playing around and catching up on my blogging.

Peace out my home skillets. Check back soon!