I update my WTT blog on a weekly basis, which makes me forget that I'm supposed to be updating this page too! I sometimes forget they're not the same one - the one problem with having so many blogs!
This last month has been a huge one for development with Will. He has shed any indication that he's a baby and is now a full fledged toddler. He can repeat pretty much anything Katie says. He has no trouble climbing on anything - I'm constantly having to grab him before he runs up the stairs, or climbs on the top of the sofa. Now he comes up to me, tugs on my shirt and says "poo! poo!" when he needs his diaper changed, and then goes over and lays down, patiently waiting as I gather supplies.
We put away his pack and play yesterday and his exersaucer, as he hasn't sat in either of them for a while. He only wants to be on the floor exploring at all times. Getting him to sit in his high chair is a struggle too, he hates being confined.
He LOVES that it's spring again! Always the outdoor baby, he's having a blast reconnecting with the grass again and feeling the warm breeze on his face. This is going to be such a fun summer, he loves being outdoors all day.
Will loves cars. He has a few that he plays with all day. While he drives them around, he says "bruuuuuum, bruuuuuuum" for car noises. He also still loves his fishes, and talks to them all day.
His newest thing is high fives. He is always up to giving anyone and everyone a high five!
Katie now wants him to be her playmate, and he's starting to actually do it. She'll sit down under the table and say "help, Will! Help me!" and he'll speed over to her, grab her hands, and she'll pretend to be rescued by him. Sometimes when she's yelling help, I'll think she actually needs it and go over to help. She'll say "no, I only want Will! Will needs to help!" I love watching them be buddies! Will gets such a kick out of getting to participate in Katie's playtime and be like a big kid. He definitely doesn't want to be a baby anymore!
Will is getting a passport next month, as he'll be leaving the country for the first time before he's two! And Katie will be leaving the country for the second time in only three years. They're going on a Disney cruise to the Western Carribean on the Fantasy ship on Halloween! Katie can't sit still about it, she's so eager to go (almost as much as me!) and I know Will is going to have a blast too. He loves Mickey! He'll also love the open decks and the private beach.
He's also going to be raised as a little Southern boy! We'll be moving to Georgia or North Carolina in 2-3 years (or as soon as possible, really). Katie will be a little Southern Belle and Will's personality is just going to thrive in that new enviroment. I can't wait to get down there with them!
Monday, April 6, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Sleepless
Will is being a super handful for the last week. He's been more difficult now than he was as an infant, I think!
He's got a lot on his plate, so if I wasn't so absolutely exhausted, I wouldn't blame him for being extra fussy, extra needy of being held, and never ever sleeping. He has FOUR molars coming in at once. One of them just finished completely breaking through, but the rest of them are still just swelling up his little gums.
He was also running a fever out of the blue two days ago. Possibly from teething, possibly from a little cold, I'm not sure. Katie had a fever last week, which seemed so out of the blue as well, and then just slept it off and it disappeared the next day. His did the same.
For the last four nights, Will has refused to sleep. Not only is he only taking ONE nap a day, but he goes to bed late and then wakes up all night. He spends hours of the night sitting up jabbing me or crawling over me. Last night he was up from 4 AM - 5:30 AM, again from 7 - 8, and he woke up for good at 9. He only went to bed at 12:30, and I went to bed around 1 AM, so there was very little sleep.
It's been enough to make me want to stop cosleeping and put the fourth wall on the crib (it's sidecarred to our bed currently so he has his own space.) However, he still is heavily nursing through the night, so if I force him to sleep in his crib, I still have to wake up 2-4 times a night, take him out of the crib, stay awake while he nurses, try to convince him to go back in the crib, and repeat. That would have me awake even MORE than now!
I've also tried feeding him a big meal before bed so he doesn't need to nurse as much, but of course he won't have anything of it. He eats solids, but he's still not a big enough fan of them. He snacks on different solids all through the day. He eats bananas, meats, veggies, etc from my plate, but he likes breastmilk to still be his meals. When I try to get him to eat more, he just spits it out.
I'm super tired. I don't know what the solution is. I'm hoping it's just his teething keeping him up and it'll end any night now. Or if he'll start eating bigger meals and needing to nurse less so I can crib train him. Once he's walking and not nursing much of the night, I'd like to move him to the nursery in his own toddler bed next to Katie.
He's got a lot on his plate, so if I wasn't so absolutely exhausted, I wouldn't blame him for being extra fussy, extra needy of being held, and never ever sleeping. He has FOUR molars coming in at once. One of them just finished completely breaking through, but the rest of them are still just swelling up his little gums.
He was also running a fever out of the blue two days ago. Possibly from teething, possibly from a little cold, I'm not sure. Katie had a fever last week, which seemed so out of the blue as well, and then just slept it off and it disappeared the next day. His did the same.
For the last four nights, Will has refused to sleep. Not only is he only taking ONE nap a day, but he goes to bed late and then wakes up all night. He spends hours of the night sitting up jabbing me or crawling over me. Last night he was up from 4 AM - 5:30 AM, again from 7 - 8, and he woke up for good at 9. He only went to bed at 12:30, and I went to bed around 1 AM, so there was very little sleep.
It's been enough to make me want to stop cosleeping and put the fourth wall on the crib (it's sidecarred to our bed currently so he has his own space.) However, he still is heavily nursing through the night, so if I force him to sleep in his crib, I still have to wake up 2-4 times a night, take him out of the crib, stay awake while he nurses, try to convince him to go back in the crib, and repeat. That would have me awake even MORE than now!
I've also tried feeding him a big meal before bed so he doesn't need to nurse as much, but of course he won't have anything of it. He eats solids, but he's still not a big enough fan of them. He snacks on different solids all through the day. He eats bananas, meats, veggies, etc from my plate, but he likes breastmilk to still be his meals. When I try to get him to eat more, he just spits it out.
I'm super tired. I don't know what the solution is. I'm hoping it's just his teething keeping him up and it'll end any night now. Or if he'll start eating bigger meals and needing to nurse less so I can crib train him. Once he's walking and not nursing much of the night, I'd like to move him to the nursery in his own toddler bed next to Katie.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Will's Vocabulary
I can't believe how much Will is suddenly growing up. It's like when he turned a year old, there was a switch that went from baby to toddler automatically. In the last week, he has been pronouncing and learning so many words. He pronounces a new word each day this week. It started with tree - he loves touching our Christmas tree. Every time he touched it, I'd say tree and he'd repeat it. Not only can say it, but now if I say "tree?" he immediately looks at it and tries to touch it. He knows the word!
Then he had a ball in his hand. So I'd touch it and say Ball and he'd repeat. Now if I say ball, he looks all around him for the ball. He can actually pronounce the "b" sound really well!
Which led into saying Boo. He already has been stepping up his peek a boo game by using a blanket or his shirt to cover his face, and then quick take it down and giggle when someone said peek a boo. Now he does it and says "boo!" when he brings it off his face. He also thinks it's hysterical to "scare" mommy, so he sits in his high chair while I do dishes and says "boo! boo!" and giggles when I act scared.
I emptied out the whole nursery and bedroom yesterday to make sure there were no choking hazards of any kind, then brought down some toddler toys from the attic. While Katie took a nap, Will spent three hours crawling, climbing and playing all over the nursery and bedroom. I was really surprised how fast he could go, and how well he could balance. He still won't walk without at least one hand on something, but he balances so well as he tries to reach across for the next thing to hold onto. I'm pretty sure he'll be taking his first independent steps soon.
Then he had a ball in his hand. So I'd touch it and say Ball and he'd repeat. Now if I say ball, he looks all around him for the ball. He can actually pronounce the "b" sound really well!
Which led into saying Boo. He already has been stepping up his peek a boo game by using a blanket or his shirt to cover his face, and then quick take it down and giggle when someone said peek a boo. Now he does it and says "boo!" when he brings it off his face. He also thinks it's hysterical to "scare" mommy, so he sits in his high chair while I do dishes and says "boo! boo!" and giggles when I act scared.
I emptied out the whole nursery and bedroom yesterday to make sure there were no choking hazards of any kind, then brought down some toddler toys from the attic. While Katie took a nap, Will spent three hours crawling, climbing and playing all over the nursery and bedroom. I was really surprised how fast he could go, and how well he could balance. He still won't walk without at least one hand on something, but he balances so well as he tries to reach across for the next thing to hold onto. I'm pretty sure he'll be taking his first independent steps soon.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Will's First Christmas and Birthday!
Will had his first Christmas and his first birthday last week! (And he also went through his second New Years, but again he slept through it, so much less exciting.)
Will loved Christmas. Half of the gifts he crawled up on and ripped through the wrapping paper, the other half Katie gleefully helped him unwrap (she was an unwrapping machine this year!) Christmas prepared him well for his birthday, which he was able to unwrap the gifts mostly himself.
My little boy is barely a baby, not in size or in age anymore. He's now a little toddling toddler! He's also a little crazy chewing machine. He has 4 molars coming in, which are constantly a discomfort for him. There's never a moment when he's awake where he's not trying to gnaw on something, from toys, to the edge of his pack and play, to some part of me that he can get into his mouth. I can't wait for them to break though, his little gums look swollen from the big teeth coming up.
There's roughly a million pictures from Christmas and birthday combined, so I'll (try to) just put up a few...
Will loved Christmas. Half of the gifts he crawled up on and ripped through the wrapping paper, the other half Katie gleefully helped him unwrap (she was an unwrapping machine this year!) Christmas prepared him well for his birthday, which he was able to unwrap the gifts mostly himself.
My little boy is barely a baby, not in size or in age anymore. He's now a little toddling toddler! He's also a little crazy chewing machine. He has 4 molars coming in, which are constantly a discomfort for him. There's never a moment when he's awake where he's not trying to gnaw on something, from toys, to the edge of his pack and play, to some part of me that he can get into his mouth. I can't wait for them to break though, his little gums look swollen from the big teeth coming up.
There's roughly a million pictures from Christmas and birthday combined, so I'll (try to) just put up a few...
Friday, December 5, 2014
My Eleven Month Old!
It's so hard to believe, but Will is so close to being a full year old now! His birthday is coming up, and no matter how much I try to push off planning it, it's still racing by and will be here in only 4 weeks.
I can't believe I've had him for a year. It was the fastest year of my life but I've experienced so much and learned a lot. I remember when I was pregnant, I was nervous to have a boy. I had been spoiled with having a girl - I could do her hair, dress her in frilly, ruffly, pretty things, buy her bows and shoes and everything beautiful. What did boys have? I didn't like sports, boy clothes are not so exciting, and there were no frills for boys - no hair dos or bows or anything. I was worried that after having a girly girl, a boy would be boring.
Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about. Having a boy has been so enriching. While I still don't get to dress him up in frilly things with bows on top, I get to have a little boy who loves his mommy, who treats me like the only person in his whole world. I have a little boy who looks up at me in adoration in a way Katie did not. Katie loved, and still loves, everyone. She's so social, she was a daddy's girl from the start. Will? He acts like he doesn't even realize there's other people in this world, and if there are, they're second rate to his mommy. There's such a special bond between he and I, made from a little boy's love and all the hours of cuddling we've done throughout the last 11+ months. He is anything but boring! When I was pregnant, I looked at his gender like it was limiting, when I should have been anticipating his huge personality and how exciting and fun he is!
I'm so very grateful I got to experience both gender sides, because they're both so different and so wonderful. If you would have asked me before Will which gender I would lean towards wanting, my answer would probably have been girl every time. Now? I honestly can't say. When I think about the next baby, I can't decide what I want! I'd love to have another little boy to pal around with Will, to have eyes only for his mommy, to be so full of boyish charm. I'd love a little girl to dress up and do her hair and teach about princesses. But I could not decide between them! I'm so glad the decision is not up to me, because having experienced both genders, I don't think I could choose.
I'm sad to see 2014 go, because it was so full, with lots of learning and fun and getting to know my new little boy who is not so new anymore. The more he grows, the more he seems so perfect and wonderful and such a perfect part of our family.
My little handful and pure joy. <3
I can't believe I've had him for a year. It was the fastest year of my life but I've experienced so much and learned a lot. I remember when I was pregnant, I was nervous to have a boy. I had been spoiled with having a girl - I could do her hair, dress her in frilly, ruffly, pretty things, buy her bows and shoes and everything beautiful. What did boys have? I didn't like sports, boy clothes are not so exciting, and there were no frills for boys - no hair dos or bows or anything. I was worried that after having a girly girl, a boy would be boring.
Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about. Having a boy has been so enriching. While I still don't get to dress him up in frilly things with bows on top, I get to have a little boy who loves his mommy, who treats me like the only person in his whole world. I have a little boy who looks up at me in adoration in a way Katie did not. Katie loved, and still loves, everyone. She's so social, she was a daddy's girl from the start. Will? He acts like he doesn't even realize there's other people in this world, and if there are, they're second rate to his mommy. There's such a special bond between he and I, made from a little boy's love and all the hours of cuddling we've done throughout the last 11+ months. He is anything but boring! When I was pregnant, I looked at his gender like it was limiting, when I should have been anticipating his huge personality and how exciting and fun he is!
I'm so very grateful I got to experience both gender sides, because they're both so different and so wonderful. If you would have asked me before Will which gender I would lean towards wanting, my answer would probably have been girl every time. Now? I honestly can't say. When I think about the next baby, I can't decide what I want! I'd love to have another little boy to pal around with Will, to have eyes only for his mommy, to be so full of boyish charm. I'd love a little girl to dress up and do her hair and teach about princesses. But I could not decide between them! I'm so glad the decision is not up to me, because having experienced both genders, I don't think I could choose.
I'm sad to see 2014 go, because it was so full, with lots of learning and fun and getting to know my new little boy who is not so new anymore. The more he grows, the more he seems so perfect and wonderful and such a perfect part of our family.
My little handful and pure joy. <3
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