Twenty four weeks old

I had some extra time this week (ok, the boys were both asleep in the car and desperately needed naps, so I sat in the car for an hour in the garage), so I caught up on some of my favorite humorous mommy blogs.  This one was particularly fun to read: 15 Differences in the child vs. the second.  Not all of these are true for Calvin vs. Caleb, but a few are, especially numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 14.  Especially number 8 this week...Calvin is officially rolling all over the place and as fun as it is, please bring on the duct tape or at least some ankle weights to hold him down (see video below).  Caleb rolled to his tummy for the first time the first week of July and was crawling by the middle of the month.  Everyone tells me the second one moves faster, but does this have to be the case?  Caleb rolled just before six months, crawl at 6.5 months, and walked at ten months three days...please Calvin, I'm not ready for this!  I liked leaving the room and knowing you would be right where I left you.  I'm not ready for the constant worry about what small toy is left where you might get to, or obsessively checking and double checking the gate at the top of the stairs...ready or not, here we come I guess.  Here are some ways life our lives are different for our first vs. second child



1. Bedtime
1st child - sure you can stay up until 9:30 with us every night.  Maybe this will help you sleep later.  Sleep when baby sleeps, right?

2nd child - in bed by 7:30, maybe 8:00.  We need some time to furiously get things done around the house and I don't know maybe sit down, relax, and talk as grown-ups.



2. Interaction with other children

1st child - only time Caleb saw other kids was at daycare.  Otherwise he had an adult lifestyle.  Most of our friends didn't yet have kids so he was with adults all the time.  Maybe that's why he has such a serious, grown-up personality.

2nd child - around kids all the time!  Bring on the playgroups, pool outings, and trips to the park.  Caleb needs to be around kids and lets face it, I need some adult time, so Calvin sees other children daily if not multiple times a day.  Not to mention he lives with one.



3. Baby monitor

1st child - if he was asleep and in his room the monitor was on and no more than two feet away from me.  I'd obsessively check it to see what he was doing.

2nd child - it's only on if we're outside or asleep when he's asleep.  I've even forgotten to give it to babysitters on more than one occasion.


4. Mom Guilt -- turns out this exists no matter what, but the questions I ask myself are much different...

1st child - am I spending every waking second with him?  Am I reading to him enough?  Am I stimulating his brain enough?  Is he developing on the right track?

2nd child - did I talk to him today other than to care for his immediate needs?  Is his hearing going to be impacted by the constant noise in the house?  Did both kids get some individual attention today?  Am I giving in to too much in an effort to maintain some sanity?


5. Outings

1st child - we went to Hy-Vee and Target a lot and occasionally the mall.  Once a week we had a mom and new baby class at the hospital.

2nd child - anywhere and everywhere.  Bring on the park, pool, zoo, museums, library, etc, etc.

Just chewing on some toys.

Watching the family do yard work. 

Sometimes, I like to freak my parents out by sleeping on my tummy. 

I don't know why they all think the zoo is fun...this is exhausting!

Twenty three weeks old

Calvin got to experience life as an exhausted little brother this week as he was drug to vacation bible school every morning during nap time.  Fortunately I didn't have much to do during that time, so Calvin finished his nap in the car while I read a book.  We attracted a few looks while parked in the very front parking spot in Target waiting for him to wake up.  He slept for an hour while I read that morning.  His routine this week has been one-two 45 minute naps and one long nap...1.5-3 hours!  The long nap is typically the last of the day, which made for a very tired little boy the two days he woke up at 2:45, but wasn't interested in sleeping again until 6:00.  We kept him up until 7:15 and then let him go to bed those days.  Night time sleep has been pretty good.  Sleeps until 2-4 am, nurses, and then back to sleep until 5-6 am and then usually will go back to sleep until 6:30-7:00.

I tried to do a little photoshoot of the boys to replace a picture frame in Travis' office.  It went well, but I took the pictures in the wrong direction!

Fell over!  

I'm afraid the grocery budget will have to be increased quickly with this little man!  Feeding him is not one of my favorite things because he cries and yells when I'm not fast enough.  I've tried nursing him right before feeding him, and that doesn't really help.

He has mastered rolling both ways.  He still struggles getting onto his belly when he is tired or crabby, but he can do it!

Wondering how he ended up there!

Gets the idea, but doesn't tip it up yet.

Twenty two weeks old

Sometimes you have to get all dressed up.

Checking out the cows.

I feel like this past week just disappeared... what in the world have we been up to this week?

Calvin did get to go to his first dairy farm this week.  He's also desperately trying to master getting onto his belly.  He is getting some movement in him as he is no where near where we put him down.  He just can't get his arm out of the way to get onto his belly all the way. He did it today once, but he was laying on a hill, so that helped him a lot!

This week Calvin is hanging out with Mom while Caleb is at VBS.

He started on his gym.

Twenty one weeks old

Cousins!

We had a nice week playing outside and a weekend full of visiting family.  The afternoons were finally hot enough to go to the pool so I decided it was time to brave the pool with both kiddos.  The actual pool went well, my decision making on how to get to the pool, not so great.  I decided to load them up in the wagon.  I propped a towel around Calvin and strapped him in and all was good until we got to the hill.  He started to lean forward and couldn't get himself back upright, so Caleb had to hold him up the rest of the way to the pool.  On the walk home, I pulled Caleb in the wagon and carried Calvin down then hill and then put him in the wagon with Caleb for the rest of the ride.  The pool is a short walk away, but the hill is too big for Caleb on his bike and I'm afraid after playing at the pool he would be too tired to walk home.  I think next time Caleb will go in the stroller and I'll wear Calvin.  Calvin was indifferent on the pool. The water was chilly and the sun was blinding him, so he just fell asleep.  I'll try his sunglasses next time.  He head was covered and shaded from the sun by his hat, but I completely forgot about the reflection of the sun back up on him.

We finally made it! 

Fast asleep with his head completely covered in a blanket.

The walk home.

Caleb kept telling Calvin to be nice and stop scratching him. 

Sleep has been a mystery this week for Calvin.  Naps have always been a guessing game with if he wants to be held or just laid down to go to bed, but bedtime for two months has been the same.  Feed, burp, lay down, turn on the mobile, and walk away.  Occasionally return with the pacifier a few times, but for the most part he's quiet and asleep within five to ten minutes.  This week, not the case.  Everything was going normally and then he would just scream bloody murder the second Travis laid him down.  The first night I rocked him to sleep and after three attempts got him to stay asleep in his bed.  The next night he started screaming the second Travis entered his room. Again, I rocked him and transferred him to the crib asleep...only took one try.  Ok, maybe that's what he wants.  We can rock him, no big deal.  The next night we decide to skip laying him down and I just try to rock him.  The second we start rocking, he starts screaming.  Plan B, just lay him down like before.  Still screaming.  I took his other arm out of the swaddle (he still slept with one arm up and one down), instantly calmed down.  Kept my hand on his belly for a few minutes and then left and he went to sleep.  He was up three times that night, which is more than normal, but not too bad.  The next night, arms out, laid him down right to sleep and he slept ten hours!  No one get too excited yet...the next night, an hour long scream fest to finally fall asleep.  Just goes to show the second we think we have something figured out, he changes it.

I've fallen in love with a baby carrier again...the ergo baby this time.  I still like the Moby, but he's getting heavy for it and stretching it out if he's in it for long periods of time.  I had a mei tei, but found it too annoying to put him in it and struggled to get it tight enough where he felt secure.  I know with more practice we would have gotten it.  Several friends from Mom's club recommended an ergo baby, so when zulilly had then half off, I went for it.  Great decision!  I can front carry or back carry in it and it goes up to 45 lbs...if I'm still carrying this monster when he hits 45 pounds, someone stage an intervention.  He was in it twice on Friday for 60-90 minutes each.  He snuggled right in and took a nap and my back and shoulders didn't hurt!  It also has a cool little hood to put up when he's asleep to block the light. 

Trying so hard to roll over.  This is the farthest he can make it when he tries to go back to belly. 

I'm going to get you Sarah!

. 

Twenty weeks old

I thought it would be a good time to update Calvin's likes/dislikes:

Likes:
- three naps a day...don't even try to convince him he needs another one no matter how short they are or what time the last one ended
- sitting up
- chewing on anything he can get into his hands
- being sung to...especially by Travis
- the giraffe on his exersaucer
- food...he's loved everything he's eaten so far and often cries when it's gone.  He's tried a lot of food off of our plates and butternut squash puree.  We're going to try some carrot/cauliflower next.  So far no issues with the big eight allergens.  It's incredibly frightening feeding your four month old peanut butter when your oldest child is most likely anaphylactic to peanuts, but if it can prevent a similar severe allergy, we are going to try it!  Current research into this:  LEAP study.  This is the most exciting statistic for me from this particular study.

• Among the children who originally tested negative for peanut allergy, 13.7% of the “avoidance” group developed peanut allergy by age 5, compared to only 3.2% of the children who ate peanut regularly from an early age.

Other studies have been done as well with similar results, but this is the one that kind of got the ball rolling and has the most data. It was also interesting to me that during the years where they recommended avoidance of high allergens, the number of kids with allergies went up instead of down.
- baths
- TV...if it's on and Calvin's up we have to be strategic about where we put him.  He's like a moth to a light when it's on.
- waking up the second Caleb lays down for rest time...I guess he wants me all to himself.

Dislikes:
- bright sunlight
- four naps a day
- bottles

Indifferent or depends on his mood:
- tummy time -- he's forgotten how to roll over, so sometimes he gets really mad when he's on his stomach.  Other times, he likes it.
- car seat -- he's not screaming in the car now, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he likes it.

He's really been reaching for us this week.  Whenever one of us comes close to him, he will reach to go to the other one.

We are starting to settle into our new routine of being with Mom all the time.  I'd say the boys and I are really liking it so far.  The last day of school proved to be very hard and very emotional.  Goodbyes are hard and I will miss my students and coworkers so much.  There were lots of tears as I said good bye at school, packed my things, and picked our boys up from Gayle.  Leaving Gayle might have been hardest.  We've trusted her with our kids since Caleb was eight weeks old.  She loved them so much and provided them with great care and us with good advice!  Currently, the plan is for me to return to teaching when our boys are both in school.  I've got my renewal credits until 2023, so I'm in no rush right now.

Loves to sit up!  Can't trust him not to tip over yet though. 

Open mouth smile.

Not so sure what to think of swinging.

Loves to cover himself with blankets.  Can't always get himself uncovered.