Lovey dovey

Worn Out

We are all a bit tired from all the fun and excitement in Florida. Naptime for all. One last day of fun and a day of travel ahead tomorrow.

Animal Charades

Kate as a frog. :)

Merry Christmas from Florida!

Jesus liked fish, right?

Santa

There was crazy excitement today over Santa. Well, and everything else. The day started with a fishing trip. Jacob and I hung back so pics and more on that later.  Then there was two hours of trying to get missy to calm down enough for a nap. Then a nap. Then making maple cookies for Santa.

Then we braved taking three kids to Mass. We were obviously from out of town. For one thing we were five shades paler than anyone else in the church. For another, we were dressed up while everyone else had on t shirts and shorts. Texans and Floridians don't mix I guess. Two kids fell asleep during the service and one was enormously patient (Kate) . Afterwards we came home, had the Griesemer traditional shrimp dinner, each kid opened a present each, and then two hours later they are finally asleep.

Kate kept telling me how excited she was Santa is coming. I just found out that Santa took a gift out of the box to fit it in the suitcase and didn't pack the instructions for assembly...this could be ugly...

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Ah, Christmas

The times of giving... and playing in boxes...



What kills me about this video is Jacob just sits and watches.  Every once in a while he tries to get a toy that Paul has but just kinda takes it all in.

Thanks to Daddy

Paul is totally the one who did the sleep training this go round.  We had success, then a week of a cold (I gave in and nursed) and then retraining.  We couldn't figure it out though.  He would go down exhausted at 6:30pm, then wake at 7:30pm and cry until 8:30pm and then go to sleep.  For three nights.  Finally we just put him to bed at 8:30pm and voila!  Why didn't we figure that out earlier?  Now he's sleeping from 8pm - 10:30pm, we wake up to nurse (Which I'm about to drop because he doesn't even really eat), and then he wakes up at 6:30am for the day.  I think he'd sleep longer but no one can sleep through Kate banging around.

Working Backwards

Since I'm so behind, what is there to do but just go backwards.

Tonight we drove around and looked at Christmas lights.  Kate loved a few houses so much she and Daddy P got out to walk around.  It was adorable.

I went to the doctor today.  Saturday I went from feeling fine to within an hour throwing up.  Four days later, and still feeling shitty, I went to the doc.  Turns out I have vertigo.  Something about crystals in my ears acting like a snowglobe.  Whatever.  Apparently it's related to my migraines (because going blind isn't enough, but now I get to get intensely, fall-over dizzy once in a while and then so sick I throw up).  But, frankly, I was happy that he didn't say "tumor" or "pregnant" so we're all good.

Treatment, you ask?  I kid you not, the doctor said, go watch youtube videos and do the roll they tell you to.



It helped.  Hard to believe it, but it did.  Still there, so I'll try again tomorrow.  Doc said it shouldn't last more than a week at a time anyway, and we're creeping up on that timeline.

Coincidentally, Daddy P randomly had a fever two days ago.  For a while we assumed I had food poisoning, then the flu, and now... well, now I'm just dizzy I guess.  Daddy P never slowed down when he was "sick" -- I say "sick" because although he had a fever he was acting in good spirits and was more productive than he is when he's "well"!

First Meal Sitting

Jacob joins us tonight!

Daddy is done!

Semester is over! Time to play!

Sleep Training

So, after Paul winged the sleep training several weeks ago, we regressed due to colds and laziness and Jacob started again nursing every 2-4 hours all night long.  Four hours got to be a "good" stretch... which was showing up in my short temper and lack of patience.  I came home Saturday and broke down.  After working all day I had no patience left for my own children and was in tears as I realized that I was not the mom I wanted to be or knew I could be.  I have already adjusted the work piece and will shift to a TThFSat schedule starting in January.  (Right now I am working every day but Sunday... stupid, I know, but it just kinda happened in the name of saving money...)

The second piece, was getting Jacob to sleep.  I bought the Ferber book, read it Friday night during my nursings all night long, and then... well, we got home from a "date night" Saturday night at 10pm and he was still awake.  He was exhausted, a wreck, and wouldn't go to sleep because he was so wired.  Paul had taken Benedryl due to allergy problems, and I was alone with the kid, so... sleep training started!

Ferber says to go in after varying times, for no longer than 2 minutes, to soothe the baby without picking them up or stimulating them.
Night #1:  Cried for 3 minutes (then patted him and sang for two), 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 7 minutes and then fell asleep after the next 4 minutes
Slept from 11pm to 5am.  Nursed, went back to sleep until 7am.
Nap #1 Cried for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, then fell asleep at 4 minutes.  Slept for 1.5 hours (longer than his usual 30 minute nap!)
Nap #2 cried for 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then asleep after 1 minute.  Again, a 1.5 hour nap.
Nap #3 I wasn't around for, but Paul said it went well and lasted 45 minutes.

Night #2
Nursed to sleep.  OOPS!  I didn't realize he wanted to sleep but thought he was only hungry.  Tried to rouse him, but he was out at 8pm.  Work up at 9pm raring to go.  Apparently he thought that was a nap.
at 9pm, cried for 5 minutes, 7, 10, 10, and then asleep after 5 of the next 10.  It was longer, but I blame the nursing to sleep and the fake nap.
Day #2 Nap #1 Didn't cry at all!!!  He fussed a little for about 5 minutes and fell asleep.  He's been asleep for two hours!

Hopefully tonight will go better.  The book recommended shifting his last nap later to get rid of the 7 or 8pm "fake nap"... and also shifting "bedtime" a little later, too... we'll see how it works!

Ooooooh, Freak Out!

Kate and I were having a lovely Mom and Kate afternoon (see previous post).  We'd stopped at Walmart to get Daddy P some allergy medication and see if there were any cheap pants that fit Kate.  Standing at the counter, my phone rings and I (because I'm a loser who still doesn't know whether up or down means answer) answer my phone and then say "I'll call you back" and hang up to Paul since I'm mid-sentence with the pharmacist.  When I do call back I find out Jacob is a little pink and reacting to the formula Paul had given him. We had decided to try a bottle of formula to give me a break once a day.

I get a call back 10 minutes later that Paul is on his way to the ER because the swelling has gotten worse, and the nurse on call at the pediatrician's office said to take him to the ER immediately.

Paul got there and decided not to check in.  By then the swelling was mostly down and only some pink spots remained.  He still has a couple spots, but is doing fine.

We're under strict orders not to feed him anything besides breastmilk and to go the doctor asap this week.

A mama never gets a break...

Mommy and Kate afternoon

I said how much fun I was having. She said, "there's no crying"

Shopping and yogurt. Yum.

Decorating

Finally got out our Christmas gear, which is a sure fire way to make mama happy. Jacob's first Christmas is off to an awesome start. Kate is great decorator and enjoying being such a big help and big sister.

Upon completion, she remarked to Daddy, "Daddy, I'm impressed with you."

Couldn't stop laughing.

5 months!

Can you tell he's almost 17 lbs??

UT fans in secret

Looked in the mirror and realized we were burnt orange...

Ta da!

Almost 5 months! And sitting!

Goodnight

Reading Thomas before bed...

Master Builder Kate

Kate is working this morning on making a house for the turtle.

Daddy P was up literally all night with one kid or the other. As a reward (?) I have trucked both kids to my parents' house so he can alternatively sleep, watch football and not have to do anything in particular.

Happy Birthday Daddy P !

Breakfast pancakes (Kate nursing horsey), playing in the sunshine, carrot cake for dessert, steak on the grill...a very wonderful day for everyone.

Fast asleep

Take what I can get

This falls into the "I'll take what I can get" category.

After our weekend of crazy sleep training (and lack of sleep for everyone in the house), Jacob has totally changed his sleep patterns.

He's now taking 2 1.5 hour naps, after last week taking a twenty minute one here, and a 45 minute one there.

He woke up at 3am this morning, crying, and fell back asleep on his own!  A first ever.

Nap today I put him down totally awake (but sleepy) and he's out cold!  That's the second time, now.

I really hope this isn't a fluke, but I'm really grateful either way.

Restful Sunday

We had a really nice weekend. We woke up and made pumpkin pancakes and coffee. Lazy and slow morning, followed by some lunch at our local bakery on the patio. Kate and Daddy P worked on spelling words. And Kate camped in the living room.

We have been sleep training Jacob. Or rather, I should say Daddy P has been. It was going well all weekend with Jacob habit an easier and easier time falling asleep on his own. And then...I tried to put him down last night. I spent 1.5 hours doing Paul's technique with the result being screaming and more screaming. After I gave up and Paul took over it took Jim literally ten minutes.

So although he is still going down hard for me, he goes down easy now for Paul and we went from a week of him being up every two hours to now he has slept through the night twice. He even woke up last night, rolled around for thirty minutes, and then fell asleep by himself. It was great!

halloween candy

Enjoying some Halloween candy...

Tonight we are having a camp out in the den while sleep training continues.  Hopefully Kate and I will be able to get some sleep.

Catching up

Time to catch up.  Nothing like sitting and listening to a baby crying to get you to blog.

Yep, that's right.  We're sleep training.  Kate is at my parents' house so she can actually sleep.  Daddy's drinking wine.  And, well, I'm blogging.  Our current plan?  Go in after 5 minutes until he's asleep.  We are on Cycle #1 Calming #4.  So far the Daily Show is keeping us sufficiently distracted to tolerate this.  Might be another story at 3 in the morning...

Meanwhile...

Kate's parent-teacher conference was today.  How funny is that?  Three years old, and parent-teacher conferences.  They had mostly good things to say.  She's ahead in fine motor, writing skills, and other academic areas.  Socially though, my little one is a rabalrouser.  She, apparently, is very much in a phase of trying out asserting herself and seeing what happens.  Which is funny, because the other feedback we got is that Kate is timid (i.e. won't answer questions in front of the class, etc.).

She's loving her baby brother and has been just amazing.  She reads to him, talks to him when he's upset, wants to carry him (just waiting for that day she tries when I'm not looking), and now feeds him.

Jacob continues to have some problems... Apparently, our bottle problem was a bad bottle and a bad nipple. We started with Born Free and then tried the faster nipple and he still hated it.  Then we switched to Dr. Brown and he loved it for a week then refused it.  Finally got faster nipples and he's back to eating again.  Sleep, though, is still lousy.  This week, most nights, he was up almost every hour.  Last night I felt blessed to get a 3 hour chunk.  Thus our evening venture.

(Still crying, by the way)

We'll see how we do.  Hopefully between the two of us we can stick this out and get us all better sleep because momma can't talk this much longer...

Sweet sis

Although this picture was from the other day it illustrates my tale... Paul put Jacob on the bed to use the bathroom at which point Jacob starting crying. Kate goes, gets a book, and is sitting, reading to a calm Jacob when Paul emerges.

Mom time

Some donuts to start the day...sorry teachers.

Like Uncle Like Nephew?

Paul and I decided yesterday that Jacob is like his Uncle Adam.  While I had come to this conclusion separately, I felt funny saying it outloud because, well, although I know Adam fairly well, much of my decision making was made on assumptions.

I believe that Jacob is like his Uncle because he is:
a) Very social -- friendly, sweet, likable, good eye contact... :)
b) He's active
c) He's stubborn (but, in a nice and subtle way...)
d) He's a flirt
e) He's clearly very smart

First Cereal

Jacob got his first taste of cereal this weekend. The doctor recommended it to help him sleep. She also reiterated what I'd already figured out: Jacob could no longer use us (rocking, nursing, singing) to fall asleep because it was costing us our sleep. Last night he was up every hour all night because he's so used to having help going back to sleep. Next weekend: sleep training...

Just laying around

Paul complained about drool in his ear...

Alone, just me and ferber

After two nights of Jacob waking every hour, I shipped sleep-deprived Paul and Kate to my parents house to sleep one good night. Paul's circles were getting steadily grayer and larger and the poor guy doesn't need to be sleepy on ous commute. Kate gets cranky when tired (she is 100% like me; sorry, Kate) so I needed her to have sleep.

Tonight, I am alone with Jacob and have been Ferberizing. For those of you less familiar with the wave of parenting terms, this one refers to the sleep training technique of going in to soothe the baby after progressively longer periods of time, with the end goal that he can soothe himself to sleep.

All you need to know about the picture is that a red light means crying and a green light means quiet.  Right now I have a baby who is awake hut STOPPED crying.

Now, Kate wasnt a ferber baby. She would cry herself to puking before she would cry herself calm, so we never bothered trying this with her.

But Jacob is way more dependent on people, and way more needy with soothing, but ironically is easier to soothe.

So, we will see. At least two people are sleeping tonight.

Dinner out

I realized we only eat at places that say "seat yourself"....

"circle time"

Kates the teacher...

"its kinda like a duck"

Heck, yes, its a duck. Rock on, Kate.

Sitting pretty

Have moved to sitting and he is loving looking around on walks!

Trick or Treat

I can't tell who liked it more....Kate or Paul...

So entertaining

Big sister is very entertaining. Thank goodness for me.

Silly birds

Mom: I spy birds sitting on the phone line.
Kate: Well, that's dangerous!

Funny little people

Did a joint photo shoot with Kate's cousin Reed (front)

Got some really funny ones... will pass along more later...
Ms. Kate is apparently a Queen Bee at school... here's what her teacher has to say:

"We did have another big day of Eleanor and Linhy fighting over who got to sit
next to Kate at mealtimes, and this is increasingly becoming a problem.
Kate never seems to be the odd lady out at this point, and its hard to tell how
much she is experimenting with her power of excluding other people and how much
she is just playing along with other's power struggles. Usually in the
later half of the yer this sort of thing can start to arise, as kids get really
into exploring social dynamics and social power and by the time they are
Explorers can get pretty mean by discovering the exciting results that hurting
another persons feelings can sometimes have. I don't think we are there
yet quite, but it is starting the beginning of that so early that it worries me
and I want to crack down on it. I have talked with all the girls involved
and am trying to work with them to acknowledge each other's feelings and build
empathy, as well as come up with solutions. I also don't think its
particularly healthy to be putting that much social power and pressure on such a
little girl as Kate. .."

Back to tummy roll

But...not happy about it...

2 month picture

Here is Jacob's 2 month picture... I had forgotten to post it! Oops... you can tell there was some drooling that day...