Today I got some good play time with my girls. I have been wanting a good day with them for about a week now!
of course as a little side story, I was just putting their clothes away when Laura yelled out for me to come into the den. Abby (my beagle) had gotten sick ALL OVER the place. The girls apparently feed her more than I realized when they eat their meals because it all came up and she managed to spread cheese quesadilla, hot dogs, and green beans from the kitchen through the den into the dining room. So very gross. This is a rather large area. So just when I was finishing my last little chore I ended up spending about an hour mopping the floors and cleaning up after her. I was not very happy.
Anyway, when I finally did get to join Laura and the girls in the playroom we had a good time. I am working with Hannah and Leah on standing on their own. They can do it pretty well, but when they realize they are standing without holding on to anything they immediately sit down. Hannah is (of course) more inclined to stand so I was pulling her up to the standing position and letting her go, and making a big deal of it the longer she stayed up. She can last about 20-30 seconds before she looks down and sits. At one point, I was about an arms length away from her and was trying to get her to come to me. Normally she just falls forward reaching for me, as if she is on the side of the pool and has no problem falling. But at one point, she took one little step forward and then lunged toward me. Laura missed this (figures) so I have no proof that she took a step, but I am giving Hannah the credit. Maybe it was not the official "first step" but she is definitely making progress.
Leah on the other hand, while she is perfectly happy crawling everywhere, is very verbal. Neither one of them says any obvious words. They say "mama" and "dada" but I am not sure it is really aimed at either one of us. But I realize that we say "dog" a lot, since there is always one around. They love the dogs, so when we see one we say "Kody-Dog? Abby-Dog?" Or just "Dog". Leah now has started looking for the dog when I say the word and today every time I said it she repeats with "DAW". I dunno, maybe she just likes the D sound, but it could be.
She is waving now though which is really cute. When I wave at her she likes to get up really close to my hand that is waving and wave also while touching my hand.
All these are little things, but I thought I would document them for years to come. And I just think I have the two cutest darn kids in the entire world so of course every little thing is totally blog worthy :)
Monday, August 25, 2008
An Awful Night!
Every now and then the girls remind me that they are still babies and we end up with a sleepless night.
I have to say that for the most part they are both good sleepers, and the crying it out thing works great. They rarely cry for more than a few minutes. I know when something is different with their cries. Sometimes they wake up and I give them some time and they go back down on their own. Normally its just a fussy cry that goes in and out in intensity, like they fall asleep in between sobs and wake up suddenly and cry again.
Other times are like last night. Last night I had NO CLUE. As a parent these moments are difficult because I feel like I have a pretty good handle on both my kids and know what they want. Not this time.
Matt and I went to bed later than planned. I was busy cleaning and then we just go to talking so we finally settled down about 12:30am. When I closed my eyes I felt the tiredness from the day hit me, and my body felt heavy and my head started to get all woozy. I was exhausted and did not even realize it.
About 15 minutes into that feeling I hear Hannah start crying. No, screaming. I gave her about 20-30 minutes but it is not like her to last that long in the middle of the night and this was a different cry, so I went in to rock her.
She seemed to settle down ok while I rocked her and so I rocked and dozed and patted her for about 45 minutes. I laid her back in her crib and she was asleep. Whew. Time for bed. I stepped out of the nursery and the minute I got back to my bed she started again. This time I thought "maybe she had a dirty diaper and I did not realize it? or she is teething and the tylenol has worn off" so I decided to go through the whole gambet. I got her up, changed her (only wet), gave her tylenol, and gave her a bottle. She drank the bottle and fell asleep. I laid her down in the pack n play (at about 2:45). Finally, time for me to sleep. She slept for about 30 minutes and then was screaming like mad again. As I said, this is not like my Hannah, so I went and got her again. I did not know what to do. She would not stop screaming even though I was holding and rocking her. I brought her to our room where it was dark and thought she would settle down with me. Nope. She just kept screaming. Poor Matt ended up going downstairs to sleep on the couch because it lasted so long.
I turned on the baby channel which plays lullabies at night and let her sit up to see if she would stop crying. She did briefly, and she liked my cup of water I let her have, so I did get a smile out of her once or twice, but it returned to her crying some more. I ended up singing to her with the light of the tv on while she laid on my chest for about 30 minutes and she calmed down. I woke up with her laying on top of me around 5am and put her back in the pack n play where she slept until about 7:30. Needless to say I was really tired, but I have no clue what triggered this from her. She acted fine today. She never ran a fever, never pulled on her ear, ate fine, and had good diapers. Who knows? Maybe she just wanted some attention since I have not seen them much the last few days.
As I said, they are almost 11 months old but sometimes they remind me that they are babies and I am taken back in time to the first few crazy sleepless months.
I have to say that for the most part they are both good sleepers, and the crying it out thing works great. They rarely cry for more than a few minutes. I know when something is different with their cries. Sometimes they wake up and I give them some time and they go back down on their own. Normally its just a fussy cry that goes in and out in intensity, like they fall asleep in between sobs and wake up suddenly and cry again.
Other times are like last night. Last night I had NO CLUE. As a parent these moments are difficult because I feel like I have a pretty good handle on both my kids and know what they want. Not this time.
Matt and I went to bed later than planned. I was busy cleaning and then we just go to talking so we finally settled down about 12:30am. When I closed my eyes I felt the tiredness from the day hit me, and my body felt heavy and my head started to get all woozy. I was exhausted and did not even realize it.
About 15 minutes into that feeling I hear Hannah start crying. No, screaming. I gave her about 20-30 minutes but it is not like her to last that long in the middle of the night and this was a different cry, so I went in to rock her.
She seemed to settle down ok while I rocked her and so I rocked and dozed and patted her for about 45 minutes. I laid her back in her crib and she was asleep. Whew. Time for bed. I stepped out of the nursery and the minute I got back to my bed she started again. This time I thought "maybe she had a dirty diaper and I did not realize it? or she is teething and the tylenol has worn off" so I decided to go through the whole gambet. I got her up, changed her (only wet), gave her tylenol, and gave her a bottle. She drank the bottle and fell asleep. I laid her down in the pack n play (at about 2:45). Finally, time for me to sleep. She slept for about 30 minutes and then was screaming like mad again. As I said, this is not like my Hannah, so I went and got her again. I did not know what to do. She would not stop screaming even though I was holding and rocking her. I brought her to our room where it was dark and thought she would settle down with me. Nope. She just kept screaming. Poor Matt ended up going downstairs to sleep on the couch because it lasted so long.
I turned on the baby channel which plays lullabies at night and let her sit up to see if she would stop crying. She did briefly, and she liked my cup of water I let her have, so I did get a smile out of her once or twice, but it returned to her crying some more. I ended up singing to her with the light of the tv on while she laid on my chest for about 30 minutes and she calmed down. I woke up with her laying on top of me around 5am and put her back in the pack n play where she slept until about 7:30. Needless to say I was really tired, but I have no clue what triggered this from her. She acted fine today. She never ran a fever, never pulled on her ear, ate fine, and had good diapers. Who knows? Maybe she just wanted some attention since I have not seen them much the last few days.
As I said, they are almost 11 months old but sometimes they remind me that they are babies and I am taken back in time to the first few crazy sleepless months.
Busy weekend - and many thanks
First off, I have to say that I have the best husband in the world and I am thankful everyday that he chose to marry me! Reasons? Well here is how this weekend went...
Friday night I came home a lot later than planned from work and found my sister crying while talking on the phone to my dad. Immediately I knew something had happened and I assumed it was concerning my Granddad. Apparently he had had an awful day. He had been hallucinating and in and out of it. His Parkinson's is really taking a toll on him and for a long while now every time I see him I leave thinking that was our last visit. I know that is sad but that's just the way it is. His hospice nurse had said that if family wanted to see him, they had better come fast.
My dad was in Auburn and was going to drive to Columbus Saturday morning to "assess the situation". Saturday morning when I talked to him, Granddad was doing surprisingly well and with the weather he said not to come. We were still in bed at this point and I hate to say this but a lot of thoughts went through my head...
I love my Granddaddy very much, but the trip is not an easy one. We had decided that if we were to go the girls would stay with Matts parents. His mom was working that weekend though from 2-10pm which is not very good for Matts dad having to deal with two babies. The visits are normally brief because Granddad does not talk much and sleeps a lot. It is always good to see Grandmother but overall it is very stressful. I had not seen my girls in over a week it seemed. I had gotten sick last week and work had been busy and my day off was spent running errands, so I really wanted to spend time with them. Plus I already had been planning a trip to Columbus with the girls in 2 weeks. So honestly I did not want to go. I am not good with dealing with all the sad family stuff.
Matt however told me that he knew I would regret it if we did not go and something were to happen, just because we wanted a lazy weekend as a family. He is right, and I am on call next weekend and so a visit then is out of the picture. So we all got up and got things packed and organized (which is not easy) and Laura, Matt, and I headed down to Columbus for the night.
Granddad was better than expected and I have no clue what the future holds, but the visit was a good one. When we left their place Saturday evening, we were all able to enjoy a dinner out without the kiddo's, which was nice as well! I am just very thankful that I have a hubby that knows me so well and is willing to go that extra mile even when it is hard and inconvenient.
And I have to say a special thank-you to my wonderful in laws who are always willing to watch the girls at the drop of a hat. And of course to Katy who came and helped Dad get them down for the night (not easy to do on your own). Honestly, they probably had more fun there than if they had been with us all weekend! Leah wasnt even ready to give Grammy up and come to me... not really sure how I feel about this :)
We returned Sunday evening and were quite tired, but overall glad that we went. I still plan to return in a few weeks, girls in tow. That is always an adventure.
Friday night I came home a lot later than planned from work and found my sister crying while talking on the phone to my dad. Immediately I knew something had happened and I assumed it was concerning my Granddad. Apparently he had had an awful day. He had been hallucinating and in and out of it. His Parkinson's is really taking a toll on him and for a long while now every time I see him I leave thinking that was our last visit. I know that is sad but that's just the way it is. His hospice nurse had said that if family wanted to see him, they had better come fast.
My dad was in Auburn and was going to drive to Columbus Saturday morning to "assess the situation". Saturday morning when I talked to him, Granddad was doing surprisingly well and with the weather he said not to come. We were still in bed at this point and I hate to say this but a lot of thoughts went through my head...
I love my Granddaddy very much, but the trip is not an easy one. We had decided that if we were to go the girls would stay with Matts parents. His mom was working that weekend though from 2-10pm which is not very good for Matts dad having to deal with two babies. The visits are normally brief because Granddad does not talk much and sleeps a lot. It is always good to see Grandmother but overall it is very stressful. I had not seen my girls in over a week it seemed. I had gotten sick last week and work had been busy and my day off was spent running errands, so I really wanted to spend time with them. Plus I already had been planning a trip to Columbus with the girls in 2 weeks. So honestly I did not want to go. I am not good with dealing with all the sad family stuff.
Matt however told me that he knew I would regret it if we did not go and something were to happen, just because we wanted a lazy weekend as a family. He is right, and I am on call next weekend and so a visit then is out of the picture. So we all got up and got things packed and organized (which is not easy) and Laura, Matt, and I headed down to Columbus for the night.
Granddad was better than expected and I have no clue what the future holds, but the visit was a good one. When we left their place Saturday evening, we were all able to enjoy a dinner out without the kiddo's, which was nice as well! I am just very thankful that I have a hubby that knows me so well and is willing to go that extra mile even when it is hard and inconvenient.
And I have to say a special thank-you to my wonderful in laws who are always willing to watch the girls at the drop of a hat. And of course to Katy who came and helped Dad get them down for the night (not easy to do on your own). Honestly, they probably had more fun there than if they had been with us all weekend! Leah wasnt even ready to give Grammy up and come to me... not really sure how I feel about this :)
We returned Sunday evening and were quite tired, but overall glad that we went. I still plan to return in a few weeks, girls in tow. That is always an adventure.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Publix Opens!
Ok, so maybe this is not blog worthy, or even mentionable to some people, but a Publix opened right off our exit and I am so excited. Why? First of all I love Publix. I dont care if they are more expensive. They have far better produce and meat than Walmart and I HATE running into walmart for one item. And second of all, it is on our direct route home so those one little items we need to grab for dinner or what not are a lot more convenient.
So on opening day I really wanted to go and check out the deals. Matt thought this was really weird of me, and I guess that just proves how boring and domesticated I am, but I went for a few minutes after work on opening day. They had balloons outside. It was very enticing.
Honestly I did not have nearly the time I wanted to spend that day, but I did go back yesterday and had a great laugh.
As I said, I love Publix. I am also all about people who are able to work by all means working if they would like. Well I have not been feeling 100% lately and had a large amount of groceries. I was really wanting to take advantage of the little car service they provide so they could unload the cart. Normally I do not worry about it but they want to help, right?
So I get my cart fully loaded and this little 90 year old man with about 2 teeth (seriously) asks very politely if he could help me with my groceries. I took a look at him and realized he probably could not lift a gallon of milk so I told him thank you and I was fine. So I walked my cart to the car... and he slowly followed me. I thought he was collecting carts or something. Nope, he wanted to help little ole me. I was appreciative of course and he was a sweet old man but I think there may be a better job for him. He stood by my cart while I loaded it all into the van and every now and then would hand me a bag and say "here's your bread". (nothing heavy of course). I found myself smiling the entire time because it was just so cute and yet so pointless. Bless him.
For some reason I just thought it was funny. But did I mention I love Publix? :)
So on opening day I really wanted to go and check out the deals. Matt thought this was really weird of me, and I guess that just proves how boring and domesticated I am, but I went for a few minutes after work on opening day. They had balloons outside. It was very enticing.
Honestly I did not have nearly the time I wanted to spend that day, but I did go back yesterday and had a great laugh.
As I said, I love Publix. I am also all about people who are able to work by all means working if they would like. Well I have not been feeling 100% lately and had a large amount of groceries. I was really wanting to take advantage of the little car service they provide so they could unload the cart. Normally I do not worry about it but they want to help, right?
So I get my cart fully loaded and this little 90 year old man with about 2 teeth (seriously) asks very politely if he could help me with my groceries. I took a look at him and realized he probably could not lift a gallon of milk so I told him thank you and I was fine. So I walked my cart to the car... and he slowly followed me. I thought he was collecting carts or something. Nope, he wanted to help little ole me. I was appreciative of course and he was a sweet old man but I think there may be a better job for him. He stood by my cart while I loaded it all into the van and every now and then would hand me a bag and say "here's your bread". (nothing heavy of course). I found myself smiling the entire time because it was just so cute and yet so pointless. Bless him.
For some reason I just thought it was funny. But did I mention I love Publix? :)
Daily Happenings
In reading (aka laughing hysterically at) a friends blog it reminded me of the daily occurrences that seem to happen around here much more frequently. My precious little angels are officially into EVERYTHING...
Favorite toys?
an open 24 can box of diet dr. pepper: they will reach in and try to take out the cans one by one, only they are way too heavy for their one tiny hand to pick up so it is just long attempt that normally ends in frustration or boredom.
the dog bowl: The empty metal ones are really fun to throw around the hardwoods because they make an amazingly loud noise. The water bowls are FANTASTIC.
the dogs: Their new thing is to go up to Kody or Millie's face (open mouthed) and try to get the dogs to lick their faces... which they unfortunately readily oblige. The girls get a big kick over this, especially Hannah.
Anything the other baby has: Leah is really bad about this. Hannah can be sitting there peacefully drinking from her sippy cup and Leah will crawl over to her with a mission and simply bat it out of her hands. Not even so she can have it for herself, but just so sissy doesnt have it anymore. This applies to everything.
Cords: Computer cords, vacuum cords, cable modem cords, phone cords - its all fair game. They know they are "no touch" items which only causes them to turn and look at us as they are about to grab the cord, give a huge grin while I say "no no" and proceed on anyway. Its a fun game.
Paper: Leah is a goat. She will take BITES out of magazines, mail, tags, receipts, or any other paper product that may be in her path. If you dont catch it fast enough it just becomes this big pile of mush that she moves around in her mouth. We actually had to clean her sippy cup off from dried paper that had become stuck around the mouthpiece from some unknown source.
Laundry baskets: I swear I really do not need to fold clothes because it is so much fun to stand by the basket and pull out every item one by one, and if it is folded when it hits the ground, they will sit by said folded item and shake it into oblivion until it is properly rumpled.
Fireplace/ Refrigerator/ Pantry/ Drawers : Any open door is fair game. Things must be gotten out of the refrigerator at record speed because soon a baby will be climbing in... Putting up groceries is a free for all. The fireplace is off limits - which is another "no no" they seem to laugh at as they reach for the screen. They know how to get in the pantry, so I conveniently keep boxes of macaroni and other items of that sort on the bottom shelf. So at any given moment I can walk into the kitchen and food boxes can be scattered.
Diapers: I have no idea why, but the playroom has clean diapers scattered because they are fun to shake.
So with all these fun things, why do we even have a playroom? Why have toys? Actually, I have no idea.
But back on my original topic, they are into everything and having lots of falls. Apparently Hannah had quite a nasty one while trying to stand in the bath tub while Matt was giving baths the other night - leaving one screaming baby who still had to be bathed and promted the other baby to scream as well - since they have to do EVERYTHING together.
Sadly earlier that same day Hannah pulled up on the kitchen chair, which then fell backwards on top of her causing her to bump her head on the wall and have a chair fall on top of her head. Amazingly she bounced right back.
Little Leah is more inclined to pull Hannah down so nothing too bad has happened to her in the last week or so. :)
Needless to say, they are busy little suckers and it cracks us up.
Favorite toys?
an open 24 can box of diet dr. pepper: they will reach in and try to take out the cans one by one, only they are way too heavy for their one tiny hand to pick up so it is just long attempt that normally ends in frustration or boredom.
the dog bowl: The empty metal ones are really fun to throw around the hardwoods because they make an amazingly loud noise. The water bowls are FANTASTIC.
the dogs: Their new thing is to go up to Kody or Millie's face (open mouthed) and try to get the dogs to lick their faces... which they unfortunately readily oblige. The girls get a big kick over this, especially Hannah.
Anything the other baby has: Leah is really bad about this. Hannah can be sitting there peacefully drinking from her sippy cup and Leah will crawl over to her with a mission and simply bat it out of her hands. Not even so she can have it for herself, but just so sissy doesnt have it anymore. This applies to everything.
Cords: Computer cords, vacuum cords, cable modem cords, phone cords - its all fair game. They know they are "no touch" items which only causes them to turn and look at us as they are about to grab the cord, give a huge grin while I say "no no" and proceed on anyway. Its a fun game.
Paper: Leah is a goat. She will take BITES out of magazines, mail, tags, receipts, or any other paper product that may be in her path. If you dont catch it fast enough it just becomes this big pile of mush that she moves around in her mouth. We actually had to clean her sippy cup off from dried paper that had become stuck around the mouthpiece from some unknown source.
Laundry baskets: I swear I really do not need to fold clothes because it is so much fun to stand by the basket and pull out every item one by one, and if it is folded when it hits the ground, they will sit by said folded item and shake it into oblivion until it is properly rumpled.
Fireplace/ Refrigerator/ Pantry/ Drawers : Any open door is fair game. Things must be gotten out of the refrigerator at record speed because soon a baby will be climbing in... Putting up groceries is a free for all. The fireplace is off limits - which is another "no no" they seem to laugh at as they reach for the screen. They know how to get in the pantry, so I conveniently keep boxes of macaroni and other items of that sort on the bottom shelf. So at any given moment I can walk into the kitchen and food boxes can be scattered.
Diapers: I have no idea why, but the playroom has clean diapers scattered because they are fun to shake.
So with all these fun things, why do we even have a playroom? Why have toys? Actually, I have no idea.
But back on my original topic, they are into everything and having lots of falls. Apparently Hannah had quite a nasty one while trying to stand in the bath tub while Matt was giving baths the other night - leaving one screaming baby who still had to be bathed and promted the other baby to scream as well - since they have to do EVERYTHING together.
Sadly earlier that same day Hannah pulled up on the kitchen chair, which then fell backwards on top of her causing her to bump her head on the wall and have a chair fall on top of her head. Amazingly she bounced right back.
Little Leah is more inclined to pull Hannah down so nothing too bad has happened to her in the last week or so. :)
Needless to say, they are busy little suckers and it cracks us up.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Just a few pictures
Here are some pictures from the beach. It is taking me a while to get all the pics uploaded to our flickr account, which is how I post these, so Ill just keep added some as I get them done!
Those were the best pictures we could get with two tired babies who wanted to play in the sand, and actually do not like sand...
Those were the best pictures we could get with two tired babies who wanted to play in the sand, and actually do not like sand...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
No more passi's!
I forgot to mention this, but we have noticed that the girls have kind of cared less about their pacifiers lately. We have not been diligent about making sure they have them in their cribs and they have not cared. So we did not even pack them this trip.
I dont think they missed them at all. So I think we are through with them! Yay! They are not thumb suckers either - though they have been chewing on their fingers more. They like to snuggle up to a lovey or a blanket but I can handle that. I figure 10 months is a good age to nix the pacifier thing anyway.
I dont think they missed them at all. So I think we are through with them! Yay! They are not thumb suckers either - though they have been chewing on their fingers more. They like to snuggle up to a lovey or a blanket but I can handle that. I figure 10 months is a good age to nix the pacifier thing anyway.
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