Sleep

When my mom had kids, she always swore by one thing: when a baby's hand fell relaxed and open, they were officially fast asleep and could be moved or laid down. So when Katie did the same thing, I recognized the sign and it worked really well.

However, Will never had this sign. As a young baby, his hands never relaxed but would stay balled and fisted. I assume this is because he's a high needs baby, which according to all the books I've read, says that they have a hard time relaxing even in their sleep.

But Will does have his own unique sign. Almost EVERY time he goes to sleep, after about five minutes he lets out this little "hmmmm" noise. It's just a short little noise that lets me know that he has now transitioned into a deeper sleep and I can put him down.

It took weeks for me to recognize that this was as sure as the open hand sign that he was absolutely fast asleep and could be laid down in his crib without him waking.

I love how unique my kids are. They each have their own ways of doing things - Katie is more laid back, Will is more the "go go go" kind. Their differences make each day exciting as their personalities grow.

Thirteen Months

Will is 13.5 months old now and things are ch-ch-ch-changing!

First big change is me! We had a slip up two weeks ago, and ever since I've felt "different" and crampy. I knew I was either getting my period or pregnant. I knew I had ovulated too, so I wasn't sure which. I had my fingers crossed for my period, as despite having baby fever, I'm not ready to take on another pregnancy just yet.

I got my wish, and three days ago I got AF back! This is exciting, because now I have my cycles and I can spend the next few months watching them regulate as we WTT.

Bill was a bit disappointed that I wasn't pregnant, as he's always up for a new blessing, but it just makes us look forward even more to when we start trying again. Meanwhile, I'm building up my muscles and getting in great shape so my body will handle pregnancy even better next time.

Another thing that's changing is Will's sleep pattern. While he still needs me to walk/nurse him to sleep half the time, lately he's been sleeping all on his own all night and without nursing. This is a BIG step! If he continues it, I'll be looking into putting him to bed in the nursery with Katie soon. I'd like to wait until he's really walking, but he climbs, stands and crawls so well now that I might not need to.

Will is getting chatty now. He LOVES fishies and talking about them. He says "Hi E!" for greeting Katie. Every day he comes up with new words he can pronounce. One of his favorites is yelling out "Maaaillll!" while watching Blue's Clues.