Anything goes Thursday: 18 month / 5 month update

Phew! We made it through Christmas and the kids were champs. It was a nice holiday. We felt a bit rushed and actually Maisie didn't open her presents till the 26th because of us rushing around visiting family.

Our kids were of course spoiled by family and Calan is loving all cars, trucks, and trains. Total boy. Maisie has discovered her feet, so little is competing with those, but I am sure that she will love all of her toys as well soon enough.

We are visiting my parents right now, finishing up our holiday celebrations. And of course, Calan is sick. I had a good 18-month streak of healthy kids, but yesterday Calan had some kind of stomach bug and today he is just whiny. We are surviving and he seems to be doing much better. And thank God for baby Tylenol.

Here's what the kids have been doing this month:

Sleeping

• Calan -He is still half waking up a couple times in the middle of night, so between Maisie and Calan I am up quite a bit for short periods of time. It kind of stinks, but not sure what else I can do other than ignore it. However, when he got sick the other night, I did not rush in at all and wish that I had. I am so use to him waking up that it is hard to know when something is really wrong. Because of the holiday, his naps have been a bit off too. I am hoping when we get home they go back to being 2.5-3 hours. He needs it, and so do I.
• Maisie - She successfully sleeping in her pack-and-play for all naps. She is longer sleeping with a blanket on her head. She sleeps so well for naps. I love it. I just wish her night sleeping was as good has her day sleeping. She wakes up each night at 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. mostly to just comfort nurse. I am realizing that now that she is gaining weight and eating a lot during the day, it is officially time to start training to get her to sleep through the night. We are hoping that it is just going to take a few nights and are going to try this weekend. Fingers crossed.

Eating

• Calan - Veggies are still a struggle, but I just keep offering them and I just don't give him more of what he likes unless he eats some of the veggies. He is doing better. He isn't starving to say the least. Over the holidays, he obviously was not eating very well and was pretty distracted with all the people around. With him still a little sick today, we are sticking to the BRAT foods (Banana, Rice, Apple, Toast).
• Maisie - SHE IS GAINING WEIGHT! Yeah! Maisie is breastfeeding and drinking formula at most meals. She nurses and then drinks a 4-oz. bottle. In the middle of the night I am just nursing and if we are out, she just gets formula. Our doctor would like us to start solids, but I think that we are going to hold off a little longer. She just doesn't seem ready to me. Probably by the end of January though we will start. Calan was 5.5 months when we started with him and I am going to probably wait till at least then too with her.

Milestones

• Calan - He is learning every day. He just seems like a toddler and not a baby anymore. His vocabulary continues to expand by leaps and bounds. He is getting really good at following simple instructions. We have really started to utilize time-outs for him, which isn't a milestone that I am too happy about.
• Maisie - Maisie's feet are her pure enjoyment right now. Little is competing with her feet. She is loving her voice as well and is laughing and smiling all the time. We are loving it as her parents. She just gets so excited and happy that she shrieks with joy. Love it. She is so close to rolling over back to stomach. She gets 3/4 of the way over, but just can't seem to get her arms out of the way to get there completely. Hopefully soon she will be rolling all over the place. I can't wait till she is taking toys from Calan.

Activities

• Calan - I have been doing a lot of little crafts with Calan. Some he has likes like bath paints and some he has not. But I have noticed that he is getting better with painting and coloring than he was in the past, so something is working. He is pretty cute with his toy golf clubs. We say "1 hand, 2 hand, Swing," and he holds the club with two hands and hits the ball. He is so cute looking like a little golfer and Bob just loves it. He even lets the club slide through his hands like his dad. Love it.
• Maisie - She is getting really active with her floor mat and hanging toys. She loves to grab toward them and batting at everything. We have tried the exersaucer, and she likes it a little bit, but still looks a little uncomfortable in it, so we haven't been using it much at all.

Schedule

• 7 a.m. - Maisie wakes up and eats.
• 7:30 a.m. - Calan wakes up
• 8:00 a.m. - Calan eats breakfast has milk.
• 8:30 a.m. - Calan playtime in his pack and play. Maisie starts her nap.
• 9:30 a.m. - Calan dress, helps with some chores with me.
• 10 a.m. - Maisie eats, Calan sits and "reads" books or puzzles
• 11:30 a.m. - Maisie naps / Calan eats lunch
• 12 p.m. - Calan blanket time
• 12:30 p.m. - Calan naps;
• 1 p.m. - Maisie eats / Maisie & mom time
• 2:30 p.m. - Maisie nap
• 3 p.m. - Calan wakes up / snack
• 4 p.m. - Maisie wakes and eats
• 4:30 p.m. - free time (this could be errands, dinner prep, sibling time, anything to fill till dinner)
• 6 p.m. - dinner
• 6:20 p.m. - bath time
• 6:40 p.m. - Calan gets ready for bed; drinks milk
• 7 p.m. - Maisie eats
• 7:30 p.m. - Calan and Maise bedtime
• 10:30 p.m. - Maisie eats
• 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.- Middle of the night feeding for Maisie

Overall

• Calan - Calan was so good during the holidays and with so many different schedules and environments. We were a little exhausted chasing him around, but with everything said and done, he was so god for an 18-month-old.
• Maisie - Love her and love the fact that she is breaking out of her hermit shell. She is full of smiles and laughs. She is growing so quickly now there is no stopping her. I can't wait to see all the milestones she hits this month. Can't believe that next month she will be 6 months. Crazy.