I am pretty sure it has something to do with second trimester bliss, but the last 10 days have been so great. I am not tired. I am engaging with my little ones and I am really seeing how much this affects their good moods. I hope I am not jinxing myself here.
Here's their latest update:
Eating
Calan: He is doing so much better with eating. He isn't perfect and definitely eats around vegetables if he can avoid them, but he will always take at least 3 bites when told, which is good for me. I know that their will always be foods that he prefers over others, but as long as he is eating some of the rest, I am a happy mom. Meal times have been going so much better. There is way less struggle, fighting, and time outs. We have hit a happy groove that I hope maintains.Calan is doing well with forks and spoons. He still uses his fingers often, but will use his spoon and fork often. Over the next month, I hope to start introducing a regular drinking cup at meals. Hopefully, he picks up quickly with little spills (a mom can hope right).
Maisie: She is my amazing eater. She loves food and likes lots of it. We were struggling for a little while where she was tossing food and screeching loudly during meals. We had one horrible eating out experience that left both Bob and I wondering where our sweet innocent little girl went and this loud, disobdient monster had come from. Luckily it seems to be a short lived phase. We discovered that she likes to have her whole plate on her high chair tray so that the food supply is all right there in front of her. Discovering that really helped with the loud noises. We also realized that when she is done, she is done, which is why she was throwing food off her tray. So, we quickly taught her the all done sign and when we see it, we quickly (and I mean quickly) take her plate a leftovers away.
Maisie is finally drinking well from several sippy cups. She hasn't figured out straws yet, but she is at least drinking from cups instead of bottles. It was a slow process, but she finally got there.
Sleeping
Calan: He is doing so much better with his rocking. His still has bad days, but overall the rocking is minimal. He rocks mainly as he is waking up. He rocks very little has he is going to sleep. Dare I say that I can see a light at the end of the body-rocking tunnel? I have not taken him to see a neuroligist about it and not sure if I am going to waste my time. He is getting better and sooner rather than later we will be moving to a twin bed, and hopefully that will stop the rest of the rocking. If it doesn't then maybe then I will go see someone.He is still napping from 12:30 till about 3 or 3:30. Every once in awhile he has a bad nap that takes him awhile to go down, but overall napping has been the smoothest it has ever been.
He is also sleeping better at night. Though I still hear him sometimes in the middle of the night, overall he has been sleeping from about 8:15 at night till about 7 in the morning. He still takes a little time to fall asleep at night (bedtime is 7:30), but he isn't rocking. We leave a book or a few small toys in with him and he usually sets down in about 40 minutes.
Maisie: I have been truly blessed with a perfect sleeper when it comes to Maisie. I rarely have any issues with her. However, while her molars where coming through there were several nights where she would only sleep with me. It wasn't every night, but it was probably 2 weeks of off and on sleeping with us. Since, I knew it wasn't a habit and that she just need some extra love, I was fine with it.
We have dropped her morning nap, so she is just sleeping in the afternoon usually from noon till 3:30. She still sleeps in a pack-and-play in our room. Naps are just easier in different rooms. While both kids are napping perfectly lately, I don't want one bad nap to wreck the other. It just isn't worth 2 cranky babies.
Maisie still uses a pacifier to sleep, but only uses it in her crib or pack-and-play. Since her use of it is already limited, not sure when we will actually tackle that habit. I am just going to play that one by ear. Good sleep is just too hard to let go of.
Activites
Halloween: The kids had a great time on Halloween. Calan went up to about 20 houses and loved running with older kids in the neighborhood although he couldn't keep up. Maisie went to a few houses and then just hung out in the wagon while we walked around. Kids really do make these holidays come alive again for adults. It was nice night spent with family.Classes: We joined a play class at our local community center. Calan took the same class last year at this time. It is crazy to see how much more into he is. He pays attention to directions, participates in the craft, and loves shaking the parachute. Maisie is hit or miss. She is one of the youngest in the class that is for 1- to 3-year-olds. However, she does listen to the story and like singing songs with the group. I don't expect her to do everything, but I am happy with what she has been doing.
I also joined MOPS this fall at our church. It is for 2 hours every Tuesday. The kids play in childcare while I get 2 hours of child-free learning and talking with other moms. Both kids have done great. Maisie, who cried every time we dropped her off at MOPS or our church nursery on Sundays, has now become a happy baby ready to go play when she gets dropped off. Calan for the most part still runs to play. Every once in awhile he has a freak out being dropped off, but overall he has very little seperation anxiety.
Friends: To say Calan loves his friend Gavin might be an understatement. He has really learned to play with other kids nicely, but no child compares to Gavin. I probably get asks 40 times a day if Gavin can play. We do see each other often, but it seems to never be enough. It is sweet to me to watch him develop little relationships. He is really becoming a little boy who loves to play and explore.
He has not hit or hurt any children in a long time. I think we solved that issue quickly. I think prepping him before he goes to play with others has helped a ton. Before we go somewhere to play like church, we talk about how we play nicely with friends and he usually tells me how to play nicely with friends that includes "no hit, no pull hair, share toys, take turns." We have not had a bad report in about a month.
Milestones
Maisie: Maisie is FINALLY WALKING! She still crawls, but is walking probably about 40% of the time. She still crawls more quickly than walking so if she needs to get somewhere quickly, she crawls. But, we are finally getting somewhere.
She is saying a few words like Doggie, Momma, Dadda, Hi, and Banana.
Maisie loves getting kisses. She loves walking or crawling over to me and and saying "mmmmm" with her lips together to get a kiss. She also blows tons of kisses if I am too far away. It is pretty sweet.
Calan: Not much is new with him in terms of milestones. We are starting to consider potty training, but with the holidays on their way, I think we are going to hold off till January. But over the next month or so, I am going to start prepping him, so hopefully it all goes smoothly. Am I crazy that I am not looking forward to this? Diapers seem so much easier than potty training. I obviously keep you posted on how it goes.
Schedule
7/7:30 - wake up
8 - breakfast
8:30 - TV time (Dinosaur Train)
9 - Room time / pack-and-play time
9:45 - Sibling time / learning time*
10:30 - blanket time
11 - free time
11:30 - lunch
12 - Maisie nap / Calan TV time (Caillou)
12:30 - Calan nap
3:30 - wake up / snack
4 - afternoon errands / playing downstairs (building toys, train table) / learning time*
5 - Free time / TV time
6 - Dinner
6:30 - Bathtime
7 - Daddy time / story time
7:30 - Bedtime
*I am starting to try to get some learning time in for Calan. He doesn't sit for the longest time, so get through my lesson or craft or story or song or whatever we are doing, I break it up into shorter time periods. We don't do it every day, but probably 2 days a week.
Overall
Getting through my first trimester left us a little off track, but slowly but surely I am getting us back on track. I am trying to keep us active and engaged as much as I can. I am not perfect, but I am trying. I can see over the last 2 weeks my efforts are playing off. I seem to be way less at the end of my imaginary rope. I feel more at peace and the kids are just happy and growing right along. It is still fun to have 2 babies. I love being with them and wouldn't trade this time in my life for anything, ever.
What adorable costumes!!!!!
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