Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Solids and poops

The boys have not been regular since I started them on solids...  and when they do poop, it's tres different from pure breast milk poops.  Ewwwwww...... Honestly, I gagged and dry heaved the first time I saw the stuff...

Can't wait for the next round!

They're growing so fast!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Sleep Training....

again....

It's Day 6.  We started July 15 and it was for me, out of desperation.

Although it hasn't been a walk in the park, the fact that there is a plan and it's getting better everyday, has me so happy and relieved.  No more holding for hours or playing until God-knows-when and then crying for hours.  Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but just the hours part, it would be almost an hour of crying and holding.  It was like torture.

Anyway, this is just an update on the sleep training.

Oh, and we're using the SleepEasy solution (www.sleepyplanet.com).  USE IT.

We still have a bit of a problem in that LBM is still sleeping with us in bed and we think he's now learned that he likes the bed way better than his crib.  This is turning into a concern for me... although we LOVE having him sleeping with us.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

FIRST TOOTH!!!

LBM cut his first tooth this weekend!  It's so cute.  It's on the lower front and it's all jagged-y.  Poor guy woke up this morning in a full cry and I didn't know why.  I just tried to comfort him and then fell asleep with him beside me in my mom's bed. 

LM is drooling A LOT so I know his time is coming soon.  I hope he doesn't suffer as much as LBM has.  It's been ongoing for a while now. 

They both have been screaming and screeching a lot lately too.  They've discovered their voices and it is very entertaining to listen to!  I have also noticed that they are starting to notice one another more and more.  Staring at each other, talking a little bit and then getting distracted and looking away -- this is all so unbelievably amazing to watch and experience.  I love watching it happen all on it's own.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Reading...

I've decided to keep a record of the books I've read since the babies arrived. It takes a while to get through a book (Audition took FOREVER) but, honestly, this is the most I've read in a really long time.


1. The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda too predictable
2. Audition by Barbara Walters soooo interesting
3. Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay a lot better than I expected, and very engaging for me
4. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly all right, easy read
5. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell fascinating read - really liked it
6. The Sleepeasy Solution by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack borrowed from a friend.. Crying it out... their method
7. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins by Marc Weissbluth Jury's out on this one, it's all right... library borrowing is better
8. Sprout Right by Lianne Phillipson-Webb a very nice guide to making baby's first foods and you introduce veggies and fruit first. like that.
9. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett haven't finished it yet, borrowed from library and will borrow it from a friend to finish it. has hooked me so far!

First Food Success?

Today was my third attempt at feeding the boys some solid food.  I am starting with acorn squash, which is very sweet in taste.  I added a lot of water to make it a little more runny than I did the first two times, plus I let the boys chew on the spoon before I made them try the squash. 

LBM took to it soooooo quickly and ate it up!  I only gave him 3 tastes because I noticed he was salivating a lot and he was a lot more interested in chewing on the bib more than anything else.  But still, a resounding success, especially when the last two times he vomitted!!!

LM, on the other hand, gave that gross out face (which was so hilarious!) and completely rejected the 3rd spoon of squash.  He didn't want anymore and was very uninterested with it.

Even though I threw out the bulk of the ounce serving I made, I think it was a resounding success!  I was very proud of the boys... they definitely are growing up!

Next time I'll just take out a little bit of the food from the container so I'm not wasting it all.  After all, it's just a taste they need right now, until I can start thickening up the texture and the boys start swallowing a little better!  Very exciting!

Today

Today will be a great day.  I will play with my boys and smile and laugh and read and talk to them all day, without guessing or trying to guess whether they are tired and ready for a nap or not.  I will enjoy them instead of constantly wondering if they are getting enough sleep. 

I am sleep obsessed.  What is happening?!?!?!? 

Yesterday, after countless nights of screaming and crying, and rocking, we let them cry it out again.  I basically wanted to seriously maim someone, my heart was ripping apart.  My boys were sobbing.  LM was crying and it was that lilting, plaintive cry (not the scream) that was killing me.  He was so upset, wondering why no one was coming to soothe him.

LBM fell asleep after screaming but continued to have that post-cry breathing thing that made me feel like a horrible person.  He has to sleep in our bed because he keeps rolling and getting stuck on his tummy.  I don't know what to do about that...  I feel like it's safer in my bed.  He doesn't try to roll there.  I think because there isn't quite as much room.

I'm going to go for a little walk this morning, to break from the routine.  We'll see what happens!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Oh, and a MAJOR Development with Sleeping!

This is sooooo important, I can't believe I haven't written about it!

I have completely cut out caffeine. 

I was drinking about one coffee a day.  I had been drinking coffee throughout my pregnancy and while nursing and then recently, started up on my coke addiction again.  It went from one coke maybe twice a week to almost every single day. 

Then, LBM started teething and sleep became a major issue.  He couldn't sleep but was very obviously tired.  He wasn't napping and would go to sleep at night exhausted, on the breast, usually.  He wasn't getting a lot to eat and it started affecting his poops!  (They were green instead of the yellow-y mustard-y colour).  It was quite worrying and I was (obviously by my posts) going nuts.

Within two days of cutting out the caffeine, LBM returned to full naps and amazing night sleeps. 

Worry - gone.

Caffeine - gone.

Totally worth it.

Sooooo happy!

LBM's Milestone!

LBM rolled today!!!!

Soooo exciting!

This is what happened: 

Last night, after the 3:30am feeding, we put the boyz in bed.  I was trying to go back to sleep but kept hearing LBM tossing and turning and talking and he seemed completely alert and awake.  Finally, at about 4am, we heard him start to cry.  My husband found him in the crib on his tummy! 

This afternoon, after his late nap, I walked in the nursery to find him on his tummy again!  Too cute!  Then, when I had the boyz on their mats, LBM rolled again on his tummy.  The third time, he rolled on his tummy, hung out for a bit, and then rolled onto his back!  It was amazing!

I must admit, it brought tears to my eyes.  I was teary partly because I was so proud that he discovered how to roll by himself and partly because I feel like he's growing up.  Our lives are going to be so completely different now and that also passed through my mind.... How am I going to figure this out!!!

But oh my!  What an exciting day!!!
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Best. Gifts. Ever by S. You is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.