4.5!

Our dude is 4.5.   Don't call him a little dude because this kiddos is constantly marveling at how big he is.

6.5!

16 Months

 

 

James has discovered a love of hugging.  He gives the best hugs, circling my neck with such fierce love that I can barely believe.  I could just live in that embrace.  He hugs us before we lay him down in his crib and when scared (usually of men who are strangers or loud trucks). 

 

James is still completely ball obsessed and, at times, will wake up from naps crying softly for a ball.  Too cute.

 

Swim classes have been going well.  He is in an intermediate class with mostly 2-year olds and is usually the strongest swimmer, going under water like a champ, trying to swim from my arms to the steps and jumping in from the side of the pool by himself (from a seated position, because he cannot jump).  He has a great, consistent kick and loves playing with balls in the water.

 

For one week in the past month, James started screaming during every meal.  He would point at everything on the table, scream and scream and throw his uneaten food until we would take him out of his seat ... then he would continue to scream, seeming to indicate that he was hungry.  Needless to say, it was completely frustrating and confusing for us.  Then one day, tired of trying, we gave him a bowl of food and a spoon.  He got quiet and just worked with the spoon trying to get the food in his mouth.  Solution!  It seems like he just wanted to join the rest of the family in using a utensil. Mealtimes are much more peaceful now.

 

When we aren't dancing or building blocks, James still loves to be carried around as much as possible in the house.  It seems to be that he doesn't want me to go around the corner into another room without him.  He is also fully obsessed with my bellybutton.  He wants to hold it when being held ... yeah, it's as awkward as you might think.  It started around the time that I started weening him so I think he just wants to be close to my skin and holding my belly button has become a similar comfort for him. 

Even though he loves to be held and cuddled inside the house, once we are outside he rarely wants to be held.  He walks at Alma's pace (pretty fast) and loves smelling all the flowers of spring.  He has been having a great time digging in the dirt and is always on the lookout for birds. 

 

He is such a little silly sweetheart.  I love his spirit, curiosity and love of nature and our family. 

Baby Bubbee at 9 months

James at 8 Months

0.5!

Happy half birthday, Alma!

Three Months

Our sweet baby James is three months old today. 

* James has found his hands and loves to nibble at them.  He loves his pacifier too.  He just needs to learn how to keep these items in his mouth on his own.

* He can now track the dog and the cat's tail as he/it walks across the room.  Simon loves to sneak in licks of James' head whenever he gets the chance. 

* James is still not sleeping through the night.  Not even close.  He sleeps for a few hours while Joshua holds him at the beginning of the night and then in two hour stints (if I'm lucky) in the bassinet next to the bed the rest of the night.  However, he falls back asleep rather quickly.  The key is to swaddle him well so that he cannot break loose.  Once a hand gets out of the swaddle and finds its way to his mouth, he screams with frustration. Even though I would love if he slept more consistently, I'm not feeling as exhausted as it seems like I should.

 

* We love his smiles and his love for Alma. All day long he watches her intently and, when she goes up to bed at night, he spends the next few minutes searching the room for her.  And Alma adores him as well and still wants him to be part of everything we do.  We are so lucky to have such a loving and helpful big sister around to help us take care of him.

His silly baby faces are still one of my favorite things about him.

27 Months

2 Months

James turned two months old today.

Below are shots from when he tried on the baptism gown that I wore as a baby.  Alma jumped in the pictures to give him some love.

It is impressive how much she loves him and looks out for him.  Often she gets baby-appropriate toys to give to him.  And yesterday she spent a chunk of time showing him how to roll over and tried teaching him a few sign language words.  She believes that he may be requesting an apple when he brings his fist to his mouth because it seems like he is making the sign for apple.

James -- First Month

How can it have been a month all ready? This month has that odd mix of forever and just yesterday all in one.

In a similar way that I noted key milestones with Alma each month of her first year, I'd like to do the same for James. In the busyness that seems to be life with two little ones (or, as Joshua properly noted, the business that comes with any infant), this lunaversary list may be a challenge for me. I'm going to be kind to myself and simply let it happen and try not to get caught up in the details or doing it in the same way that it came about when Alma was little. It might be shorter lists. Or less editing. Or not even happen. But trying to do it is the point, right?

In no certain order...
* James may or may not be a strawberry blonde.  The jury is still out on that one.  He has the softest hair and skin; it is difficult to not paw him constantly ... not that I'm trying to resist.
* I feel that I'm getting more rest than when Alma was born. This is primarily because Joshua and I already worked out the system that works for us. Since Joshua is the night owl, he takes the 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. shift then I take the 12:30 a.m. until morning shift, with an option to give Joshua the baby for an hour in the morning if James and I have had a rough night. Joshua spends his evening shift sitting on the couch with his legs up and James on them. Then he "bops" his legs a little to keep the baby asleep. When James wakes, Joshua brings him up to the room where I'm sleeping for a nursing session. We use the baby monitor to communicate when I am done nursing. While we are tired, this system works great for all of us. I think the tiredness comes from not having any true downtime than from the lack of sleep.

* James has been a bit fussier than Alma was. Alma would fuss if we held her too much or if we held her in the cradle position. She loved to have some independent time to "swim" on a blanket. James is the opposite; he would like to be held indefinitely while you pat his back, make shushing noises, walk around and hold a pacifier in his mouth. Or be nursed. This prevents any actual accomplishing anything around the house. So Alma and I have been spending a majority of our days on the couch reading books while I nurse James. This is her absolutely favorite thing to do so she is seeing James's addition to our family as a complete win.

* This week Alma, a sleeping James and I went to story hour at the library, the grocery store and to tour a possible preschool for Alma. These daily outings, while tiring, were fun and demonstrated that we can keep doing our regular activities with the little guy.
* There have been stints when I can lay him down in a bassinet and he sleeps for three hours. I just need to figure out what the conditions were that made those times possible so that we could have that on a more consistent basis.

* When he is out cold, James is able to sleep through all sorts of noise. All of the yelling Alma did at my belly while I was pregnant must have helped. Her favorite: "COME OUT!!!" James barely bats an eye at the chaos of our household. (And, yes, his hearing was checked at the hospital before we were discharged.)
* Because of this fussiness, we have fewer photos of James. Screaming baby photos are only okay if you have them in an appropriately funny shirt. And you can only have so many pictures of a sleeping baby. I have a feeling that he is going to chill soon and then we will start snapping away.

* We have been going on daily walks around the neighborhood with James in the Moby wrap/carrier and Alma walking. James is usually screaming when we leave the house and asleep by the time we get to the corner.
* James is a good burper. Burbs are required after every meal. He is also able to drink from a bottle, a skill we never taught Alma as an infant.

Overall, this time around with an infant is so much easier because there isn't that steep learning curve that comes with one's first infant; this time we just have to learn the special features of this new model. I'm finding that I have more time to marvel at how cute he is and nibble his ears. It's nice. Sure, it is still stressful around here -- our household has a lot of moving parts and it feel like everyone's needs (let alone desires) will never be met -- but I think that we are powering through it as best as we know how.

I know that my heart grows bigger every day in the love and gratitude I feel for Joshua, our children, our family and friends. Basically, I'm grateful for James's arrival because the sleep deprivation makes me weepy with love. Ha! How's that for honesty?!

21 Months Old

I'll admit it: I think Alma is pretty much the ideal child.  I love spending my days with her and feel as if we have such a good rhythm to our days and that life is rather easy with her.  In prepping for the coming of our next child, I've been trying to think of ways that I want to apply what I've learned with Alma to the next baby's upbringing.   Sure, they will be different and we cannot replicate the process, but I just want to be mindful of the current successes and failures that we are experiencing.  Here it goes...

Things I'm Happy We Taught Alma/Alma Does on Her Own:
* "All done"/"Not an option"  We sign something that looks like so-so (shaking hands with palms open) to mean that we don't have something, something is completed or that something isn't an option.  This has been invaluable for us as we don't have to say "no" all the time, but can instead convey that some things just aren't possible.  For example, before she could say any words and was just barely signing, I could use it to tell her that at certain times I could not provide something (i.e. nursing, a snack, etc).   And nowadays it is useful for telling her that certain activities aren't allowed (i.e. climbing too high on a fence that overlooks the ocean).  Alma is great that she generally doesn't push the limits on this sign.
* To say please and thank you.  I find that I cannot tolerate a toddler screaming demands at me.  But add a little please ("peas" or "bee") and thank you (usually just the sign) in there and I can deal with any demand.
* To sit down when eating. This not only keeps the mess down in the house, decreases the odds of the dog snatching her food and keeps me from having to worry about her choking, but it also creates the situation where eating is something we do on a scheduled basis and not just on the fly.  So many other mothers seem to spend all day chasing their kids around trying to get another bite into their mouths.  Alma seems to respect the idea of meals and snack times, more by her own nature than my teaching.  Although I think the fact that she has to sit down during the process helped to reinforce this.
* To clean up toys before moving to the next activity.  She isn't volunteering do to this, but most days she easily jumps in on the suggestion if we help with the process.
* To say "nice".  Alma has started using it to acknowledge things she likes.  Like when she came into the living room after I hung some new curtains, when she was put into her crib with fresh sheets and when I gave her a cup of milk spiked with a taste of hot chocolate.  It is such a sweet sentiment. 
* To pray before meals.  Alma loves to "circle up" (holding hands), bow her head and close her eyes for a moment of silence before meals.  While this is actually something we feel a little bashful about at times -- we don't want to be those people -- it is such a great habit that she usually instigates.  And sometimes, if dinner is especially tempting, she will nibble at it without the use of her hands, which is hilarious.
* The idea of "Only Mama's". This concept is applied to food that I don't want to share.  Like cookies and miniature candies. When I tell her that certain food is only for me, she solemnly says something like "mama eat mouth" to acknowledge that it is just for me.
* To read books by herself.  She will sit for up to an hour looking at books by herself before she demands that you join her and read the words.  I love hearing her tell herself the stories that she sees.  While I always hate not being a part of the process (the side effect of working from home is that I sometimes have to do some work during the daytime), it's easily one of my favorite things.

Things I Wish I Had Not Taught/Allowed Alma:
* To say "Yuck"  This has become a recent favorite word of hers.  A word that accompanies pointing at the offending object.  Usually that object is whatever I'm eating.  Imagine trying to enjoy a salad while your little one repeatedly points in your bowl and screams YUCK, BLAH, YUCK!  It's hard enough enjoying a salad some days.  Hence the miniature candies, right?  Yesterday at the grocery store, the deli counter employee gave Alma a slice of American cheese, to which my darling little girl yelled YUCK.  Charming.  She also signed "no thank you" but all anyone heard was the yuck comment.
* I got in the habit of only singing "The Ants Go Marching" when putting her down for naps and bedtime and now she won't allow me to sing anything else.  I'd like to change it up, but we seem to be too entrenched in the habit.  Not such a horrible thing, but worth noting for me.
* While we don't watch much TV during the day -- maybe 30 minutes two days a week -- we have been using it for messy diaper changes.  For awhile I just could not get her to sit still and started turning it on for the length of the diaper change to distract her.  It started becoming norm.  Makes me frustrated; but so does a wiggling bum smearing ... I'll stop there. I think that I've almost curbed this bad habit, but it's been difficult.
* Sitting on my lap when I use the computer.  It is impossible to type with a squiggly little one on my lap -- my ever-shrinking lap as my pregnant belly grows -- and I wish that I had never allowed this to be an option.

There are a load of things I'm missing from both lists, but this is what is on my brain today and what I want to remember about my 21-month old.

16 Months

Cannot find the time to write more than these two simple notes on our little darling to commemorate her 16 months of life:
* Finding word similarities (pear bear - growls at breakfast fruit), (belly)button, peas cheese -signs cheese at the veg)

* Alma did the sign Toilet after having a movement, all on her own. How can I feel this proud? 

1.25!

Alma turned 15 months yesterday.  She continues to surprise us with her thoughts and playfulness.  Sure, we don't understand everything she is thinking but the little bit of sign that she knows offers more insight than we thought possible ... or we are just filling in the gaps in her expressions and find ourselves completely fascinating!

Here are some photos to summarize her life.

She loves corn and peas ... and tons of other foods.  But mostly corn and peas.

It has become impossible to keep her clean. She loves walking through the garden and climbing in and out of the raised flower bed. Her cute little shoes are usually caked with mud. Love this about her.

She is very excited to wear headbands ... for a minute or two. She calls them hats.

When she has an afternoon snack at her little table, she likes to invite a stuffed animal and pretend to feed it.  We recently received a large supply of stuffed animals.  My parents returned all the stuffed animals I collected as a child.  It is great watching Alma play with them.  This particular stuff tiger is a hand puppet and Alma wears him around the house frequently.  I've kissed him at least 40 times in the last two days, due to her requests.

Other updates:

• Her thirteenth and fourteenth teeth are coming through this week.  This is a lot of teeth for such a little one.  For example, my cousin's child got her first tooth when she was 14 months, although that may be on the other end of the spectrum.
• She weighs 21 lbs (20th percentile), she is 31 inches long (70th percentile) and has a head circumference of 19 inches (95th percentile!).
• Joshua was so determined to teach Alma to say "mama" (because a few months ago she was only saying "dada") that now she calls both of us mama.  In fact, she also calls herself Mama because it sounds so close to her own name.
• She still refuses to drink milk.  But she loves ice cream and milk with a little bit of hot chocolate in it to change the taste.  Know that this isn't the way to get her to drink milk ... still working on that.
• Been carrying her in the sling carrier I used when she was a baby, which is a fun way to have her on my hip and still get to use both hands.
• Alma doesn't feed the dog as much from her high chair these days. Think she is realizing that the food doesn't come back once it goes to him.
• Started watching the first 15 minutes of Sesame Street with Alma in the morning (10am). At times feel that this is a slippery slope to watching tv.  Joshua contents that because I'm so keen on not having tv be a big part of her life that I will probably not let that happen.  
• Mid-month Alma was singing along with Bjork surprisingly well. I wondered if I should be proud of my daughter or embarrassed for Bjork?
• Her sign for cat is said by making lip smacking noise while putting thumb and index finger in mouth.  She might be Alf!
• She keeps exclaiming "bop!" So we have had the song by EnVogue that starts with "mmmmbop" in our heads all month.  At least until we realized that she was saying either ball or bib.  BOP!
• Alma dances with both hands up while bringing her fingers together repeatedly (basically, doing the sign for milk).  Finally I realized that she is mimicking my snapping.  Guess I dance and snap a lot.
• Most days she gets up at 7am, naps once (for two hours, starting around 12 noon) and has a very consistent bath and bedtime (6:30 and 7:00, respectively).  I've finally learned how to make her nap without nursing her, which is key to the weaning process.  I'm still nursing first thing in the morning and at bedtime. 
• It is great watching her learn sign and also to see her signing improve as her dexterity improves.  For example, she can now do a textbook "more" instead of simply clapping.  But signs like "doll" (hooking index finger over nose) usually ends up somewhere around her ear. Becoming aware of her own body is fascinating.  Incidentally, she often tells me that the large statue of St. Francis we have in our backyard is a doll.  Yes, I guess he is.
• One of the best signs she knows is "all done" which is used to say that we/she cannot do something.  For example, I use it to say "we are out of strawberries" when she requests them or "you cannot play with that" when she points to my phone and says "please".  
• Words: mama, book (gook!), hat, hi and bye (usually said in a very soft and high voice), dad, bark (funny side note: she barks when she sees things she likes or wants like crayons), bib (bop!), nana
• At story hour, she is usually rather shy, sitting on my lap, hiding behind my legs and sucking her thumb.  Until they bring out a basket of shakers then she quickly gets up to get one for each of us.  
• She does tons of funny things like spending an afternoon trying to get a stuffed cat to ride on Shanti's back and using a cut out puzzle piece of a horse to ride on her rocking horse.  She seems to like the order of putting similar things together.
• Alma will freeze to watch older children.  It becomes hard to move her through a store if older kids are around.  
• She will point to the mixer on the counter and say "please" if we haven't spent time baking that day.  When I say "let's bake" she goes into the dining room to push her baking table into the kitchen.  Then I hand her each of the ingredients (i.e. the flour and sugar canisters) and she carries then to her baking table.  She is certainly at the stage where she loves to ferry things back and forth between people and rooms. 
• She reads books while being changed.  Joshua noted that this combination -- toilets and reading material -- seems to be throughout our lives.  

Alma is an absolute joy and hanging out with her all day is awesome.  Sure, she has some pout-y moments, but she is redirected rather easily.   I love my little gal more and more each day.  When we were talking about expanding the family the other day, Joshua said that it was hard to imagine since his heart is already so full from Alma.  We would explode!  She is just that great for us.

14 Months

Updates from the month:

• This month has been dominated by snow and ice.  Luckily with a yard, we are able to get out of the house every day and play in the snow.  With the hand-me-down sled we recently got from my parents, I've been pulling her back and forth for the length of the yard.  Her rigid smile is part panic, part thrill.  I love it.  So happy that she is up for some cold weather. 
• At times, she will hold her hands together behind her back as she walks.  She especially likes to do this in public places where she feels comfortable and wants to go her own direction (i.e. the library and Lowes)
• She loves being with both Joshua and me at the same time.  I cannot blame her; we have a great time as a family.
• She has 14 teeth, with 2 more on the way.

• Alma wants to tickle everyone and everything (cat, stairs, mail, etc). The accompanying sounds are nearly as cute.
• This month she is back to echoing us. Whereas before she mainly mimicked our tone, she is getting the sounds much closer these days.
• Everything is still a hat.
• While she warms up to women quickly, there are times when she is very shy around men. Even scared of them if they come on too strong. She hides her face against my chest while peeking out to see what is happening.
• She loves to eat snow.  Let me clarify: Snow that I give her so that she can avoid Simon's snow (if ya know what I'm sayin').  She will hold it, pace back and forth along the patio and eat it ... until I notice that her hands look too cold and I stick gloves on them.
• Gloves are the bane of her existence.   

• We are officially at one 1.5-2 hour nap a day. While I miss the second afternoon nap (and that luxurious third nap that used to be just as consistent), she isn't getting as moody during the late afternoon. I can deal.
• I love how she takes care of me by feeding me scraps of food, hugging me and patting my back, bringing me dolls to hug, making her dolls dance to make me laugh, etc. 
• She has started doing the little kid dance -- half stomping feet, half swaying. She wasn't like my brother's children who were really into music from very young ages but she is finally getting a feeling for it and really seems to enjoy a good beat.
• She loves to look at pictures of people.  Her baby faces book is still a big hit as is junk mail that includes faces of people.  This 69News mailing was lovingly carried around all day so that she could repeatedly point to each of their faces.