Long overdue update: 2 years 4 months / 1 year 3 months

We've had our ups and downs over the last few months, but right now (today, this week, etc.) we are on an incredible up. The kids are doing great and being great. It is just simply great.

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. 

26 month / 13 month update

Wow. Kind of forgot to do last months update. I am slacking for sure. The kids are doing pretty great. It has been a pretty crazy summer. We have done a ton of things and have enjoyed the nice weather as much as we could. We were so thankful to go on vacations this summer instead of staying home with a newborn like the last two summers. I truly think that you have to have winter in order to truly appreciate summer.

So here is what they are up to:

Sleeping

• Maisie is sleeping like a champ. She still takes two naps, but is perfectly fine missing her morning nap if we have something going on. I would say probably 4 days a week she takes her morning nap. I don't think she is ready to drop it anytime soon though since I usually have to wake her up each day. Maisie cracks me up when I wake her up. I lightly touch her back to stir her and she sits straight up and looks at me like she is saying "I'm up, I'm up, I'm up." And sometimes she even claps. Makes me love her even more. She is sleeping great through the night. Bedtime is usually 7:30 and she is usually down within 10 minutes despite all the noise her brother is making. 
• Calan takes about a 2.5 hour nap each afternoon. While lately he has been protesting going down for a nap, usually within 15 minutes of being put down, he is out like a light. Night time sleep is a whole other story. The kids bedtime is 7:30, but he usually does not fall asleep till about 8:30. He is still rocking and our doctor has decided we should see a neurologist just to make sure nothing else is going on causing him to rock. Bob and I still believe that it is just a soothing thing, but it will be nice to hear from doctors that there isn't anything else going on. 
• Except on vacation, the kids are still napping in separate rooms. No plans right now to change that. Calan climbed out of his crib for the first and only time last week. Unless he does it again, we won't move him to a real bed for another couple of months. I am hoping by Christmas to have him a normal bed, but we shall see. 

Eating

• I really need to start working on table manners with Calan. I swear he has ants in his pants every time he sits in his chair to eat. Always moving and wiggling. Dinner is just our worst meal. He is so all over the place. 
• Calan is some what eating a little better, but not much. Veggies are still a bit impossible, but I can usually get him to take a bite or two. I choose my battles when it comes to food. 
• Maisie is start to show some signs of pickiness. When there is something that she doesn't like she takes it and reaches out to the side and drops it very purposefully to the dog. To say she is a stinker, is a bit of an understatement. But she gobbles down everything that she likes. She out eats Calan at most meals. Maisie has transitioned easy to milk, but is not transitioning well to a sippy cup. I am working out, but the girl is pretty stubborn. I know I will win, but it might be a long battle. 
• We ate out a lot this summer with so many vacations. The kids do pretty well out and about, but we tend to eat quickly. They are not perfect, but it isn't horrible taking them out. I just wish there were better children menu options. Enough with the fried food already.

Milestones

• The kids had their 2-year/1-year well visits. Calan is 37 inches tall and weighs 34 pounds. Maisie is 32 inches and 25 pounds, which puts Maisie in the 97th percentile for height. She is a long little girl. 
• All of Maisie's front 8 teeth are in as well as her 2 top one-year-old molars have poked through. 
• Calan's vocabulary continues to expand. He is still singing a ton and can sing the full alphabet. He counts to ten and knows his basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, white, and black). The other day he sat down with a stuffed dog and read him one of his favorite books and new some of the right words to the right pages from memory. That was pretty cute. 
• Maisie is still not walking, but getting closer every day. She takes one to three steps and then falls. I know that she is close, I just thought she would have figured it out by now. But I swear she is close. 
• Maisie is saying a Dada and Mama and I swear she says Daisy after I call her Maisie Daisy. 

Schedule

• 7/7:30 - wake up 
• 8 - breakfast
• 8:30 - Pack-and-play time for Maisie and room time for Calan
• 9 - Maisie nap; Calan TV time
• 9:30 - Chores; Calan and mommy time
• 10:30 - Maisie up; play time or errands
• 11:30/12 - lunch
• 12:30 - nap
• 3:00- wake up / snack
• 6 - Dinner
• 6:30 - Bath and dad time
• 7:15 - stories
• 7:30 - Bedtime. (Calan usually falls asleep closer to 8 or 8:30, but Maisie is out like a light at 7:30)

Overall

• Calan is still the overly excited toddler. He just beams happiness. He loves to play, sing, run, jump, you name it. However, we have had some issues with him hitting. It seems to be because of a lack of communication skills and letting older children know what he would like or to wait for a turn. We are working on it.
• Maisie is still just an easy going happy baby, but pretty determined. She knows what she wants when she wants it and complains (whines) till we figure it out. She loves hearing music. She is just overall a pretty content little 1-year-old. 

2 years / 11 month update

I am the mother of a 2 year old. Seriously, Calan is 2. I thought his first year went by quickly, but this year has flown by. Maisie is going to be 1 soon. Seriously, soon I will be the mother of 2 toddlers and not 2 babies.

This morning Bob had to go to work early, so it was just me and the kids and we sat on our large chair snuggling. I loved every second of it. I love being a mom and love watching them get so old. Though it does make me sad. Time is going by too quickly. I think every mother feels that way. So much happens so quickly those first years, I am so happy that I have been here for everything!

Eating

• Calan is still my finicky eater. I swear he regresses all the time. It is always 1 step forward and 2 steps back with him. I do get him to try everything at dinner, but man is it a battle the whole way. Not sure if it is the time of day or what I am feeding him, but it is just the worst meal. I dread it completely. His appetite is still less, which means at least meals aren't too long. (Yeah.)
  I am working on getting him to stop playing with his food. Everything is either a boat or car and then he makes the hugest mess. Again, such a pain. I just wish meals were easy. One day, right?
• Maisie is an amazing eater. She does not even question it. If it is on her tray, she eats it. Though if after a few bites, she isn't a fan, she starts to drop it on the floor. The little stinker literally smiles at me when she does this. She is eating basically everything that we are. No more purees, which is making life a lot easier. She drinks four 6 oz. bottles of formula each day. I am behind on introducing a sippy cup, so hopefully she transitions OK in a couple weeks to milk. I just have to start being consistent about it. 

Sleeping

• Calan is sleeping a hundred times better. He still rocks, but 2-hour wake ups are becoming fewer and fewer. I can only remember 2 or 3 this month versus 2 or 3 a week. He has been taking a longer and longer time to fall asleep. We have started to give him a sippy cup of water and that helped a little, but now has become another thing he stays awake with. I have started going in there not saying a word and just resetting him and that seems to have helped a little. 
• Luckily, Miss Maisie sleeps through it all. She is out quicker than I can turn off the light. She is awesome when it comes to sleeping. Down at 7:30 and up just after 7 in the morning. No peeps, no rocking, no nothing; just pure sleep. She is still taking 2 naps, an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. They still nap separately and I probably won't change that till Maisie drops her morning nap. 
• Room sharing is still going great at night. No complaints there. 

Milestones

• Maisie got glasses this month. Little cute pink ones that will hopefully strengthen her right eye so that she doesn't go cross-eyed while focusing. She does really well with them and leaves them on her face most of the time, and to my utter shock, Calan leaves them alone too and tells me when they have fallen down. Crazy right? She will hopefully only need them for a year or 2. 
• Calan's birthday was a success. We had family and friends over for a fire truck birthday party and he loved it. The kid loves his trucks to say the least. 
• Maisie is up to 7 teeth right now and I am pretty sure all of Calan's 2-year molars are in (it is impossible to get in his mouth to check). 
• Maisie is clapping, repeating noises, and dancing (shaking her head or butt to a beat). No words yet. She is pretty quiet, so not sure when that will happen.
• Calan is fearless at all the parks we have been too. Love how active and fun he is. 
• Maisie is getting a bit more balance, but is still just walking along furniture. What is it going to be like having 2 walking kids? I'm a little scared.

Schedule

Still a bit all over the place with so much going on, but here is our base schedule:

• 7/7:30 - wake up, 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 8 - breakfast
• 8:30 - Pack-and-play time for Maisie and room time for Calan
• 9 - Maisie nap; Calan free play
• 10:30 - Maisie up; outdoor play or playdate usually. 
• 11 - 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 11:30/12 - lunch
• 12:30 - nap
• 3:00- wake up / snack; 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 6 - Dinner
• 6:30 - Bath and dad time
• 7:15 - stories
• 7:30 - Bedtime. (Calan usually falls asleep closer to 8 or 8:30, but Maisie is out like a light at 7:30)

Overall

Our summer is off to a great start. We are taking full advantage of the weather and where we live. We are having as much fun as possible. I am already dreading the winter months. Let summer last forever. 

The new jungle gym - our family room chair. 

First wagon ride around our neighborhood

My mini Elton John on our way to the park

The birthday boy!

Anything to do with water and my kids love it!

23 month / 10 month update

Well another month has gone by and my kids are getting closer to their birthdays. Can't believe that it was a year ago that I was pregnant taking care of a crawling Calan. My almost 2-year-old is running and climbing and playing and being every bit of the energetic toddler that he is. My almost 1-year-old who once was my fussy newborn is now the most easy going and joyful little girl.

This month was filled with fun events and trips and excitement. We were a family on the go!

Sleeping

• Calan still rocks, of course, but some days I think it is getting better, but then he has a bad night and I feel like it will never end. Luckily Maisie still does sleep through his noise-making, so only he and I are lacking sleep. However, his wakes do not seem to affect his mood. He is pretty happy for the most part. I really think that I need to stop stressing about it, but that is so much easier said than done. I just pray that God helps sooth him and he stops rocking soon. We have moved back his bedtime to 7:30 or 8:00 and that helps some with the winding down and falling asleep, but it has not seemed to help with the night wake ups. As for nap time, he is doing great, and he is still sleeping from 12:30 till at least 3. I usually do not let him sleep past 3:30 or he takes forever to fall asleep at bedtime. 
• Maisie is my sleeping goddess. We had a week there where she was waking early from naps, but I think that seemed to because of a Wonder Week. She seems back to her regular sleeping routine now. She sleeps an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon, but can skip or catnap her morning nap if we are out and about and is totally OK. I try not to make it a habit, but at least twice a week we skip the morning nap. At night she is sleeping from 7:30 till either 7/7:30. I have no complaints there. The are doing great sharing a room. Calan actually asks for her during naps, but I am not ready for them to nap together yet. Maybe soon though. 

Eating

• Calan has really started to eat less. He must not be going through any major growth spurts. He is eating more and more foods without battling me. However, we are still working on him not playing so much with his food. He is doing pretty well with a fork and spoon. Still messy, but definitely way better. 
• I have been trying to give Maisie some type of finger food at every meal. She has been doing great. She has 4 bottles a day (3-8 oz. and 1-6 oz.) and she has solids at 3 meals. Plus, she seems to only be allergic to scramble eggs so far. She has had banana bread and waffles and a few other things that contains eggs and she did not have a reaction. So that is great news. Hopefully, that means she will grow out of the allergy. This month, I will start to introduce her to a a sippy cup, so we shall see how that goes. 

Milestones 

• The kids had their first plane ride! Calan loved it. Both kids traveled pretty well. The plane ride was short, so there weren't any major meltdowns. Plus, Calan got to sit in the cockpit. He was in button heaven. The flight crew thought he was adorable. Luckily, my sister made traveling so easy by having car seats and pack-and-plays already for us once we got to Boston. Calan did not sleep that great and wanted to wake up at 5 each morning, but overall I would say the trip was a success and I would do it again. 
• Calan's vocabulary and independent thoughts have taking a whole new leap. He loves to sing everything and I amazed at how quickly he picks up a tune. Though it does take a mother's ear sometimes to figure out which song he is singing. His favorite by far right now is "Farmer and the Dell." He sounds hilarious when he says "Hi Ho the dairy oh." He loves playing with other children, but still doesn't always understand that he can't be so bossy (Is he my son or what?). The evil-toddler in him is starting to show its face. Lots of time-outs lately, but he is overall still pretty obedient. I can't say enough about how amazing it is to watch him turn into a little boy. 
• Maisie, who once was so fussy, seems to be happy all the time. She is perfectly content pulling herself up and crawling all around exploring everything. Rarely does she like to be held. She doesn't cry, but she wiggles right out of your hands. Maisie has really been developing her vocabulary this month. She has been so quiet for so long (she rarely coo-ed) that it is crazy to here her talk all the time. She has mastered da-da and ba-ba, but I still haven't heard a good ma-ma yet. 

Schedule

• Our regular schedule has been a bit all over the place with so many play dates and events and just being busy, but here is the bare bones schedule we are following:
• 7:30 a.m. - Wake up; Maisie bottle, Calan milk
• 8 a.m. - Breakfast
• 8:30 a.m.- Playing in the family room
• 9 a.m. - Maisie nap; I shower; Calan watches TV
• 10 a.m./10:30 a.m. - Maisie wakes up. 
• 11 a.m. - Maisie bottle
• 11:30 a.m. - lunch
• 12:30 p.m. - Both kids nap
• 3/3:30 p.m. - Wake up / Snack
• 6 p.m. - Dinner
• 6:30 p.m. - Bath time
• 7:30 p.m. - Bedtime

Overall

The kids have been healthy and happy. Calan is pushing limits and Maisie is exploring her boundaries. They are a handful, but such a blessing. I love having two babies. They keep life interesting and me on my toes, but I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Calan testing out the pilot's seat on our plane ride into Boston. 

Calan hanging out at his aunt and uncle's house

Maisie playing on our deck. She has to be contained because she loves to chew on sticks and leaves and rocks and anything else she can get her hands on.

Calan helping me make pizza for dinner. 

Out to lunch with dad

Loves to be standing near her brother. Where ever he is, she must be too.

Calan upset at a local truck event. He did not want to wait in line to touch and drive the trucks. 

He loved driving. It was  great event with trucks of every kind!

My little bug. 

22 month / 9 month update

Calan loves riding the train at the mall. For a dollar, it is a great treat. 

Maisie all dressed up in the outfit her cousins picked out for her when they spent the night. 

Another month has come and gone and the next is almost over. Time is flying by, but I have no complaints. Life is good. The babies are good. We are good.

What a difference a month makes? The month of March was hell. The month of April was heaven. Life is really settling into a good routine. The calm before the storm, right? Not sure when life will become topsy turvy again, but right now, I am loving the flow. 

As for the kids, I am going to try to keep things based on just 22 and 9 months because the last two weeks have been crazy busy with things, but I will share more of that during the next update. 

So here's what the kids have been up to:

Sleeping

• The kids are officially sleeping in the same room through the whole night. At the start of this month, we tried and had to abort due to colds and bad sleeping, but we tried again and haven't looked back. I was determined. It was time and I needed to get Maisie out of our room. I just can't sleep well when she is making any noises, and she would not put herself back to sleep because she knew I was there. I have been amazed at how much the kids sleep through one another. Maisie falls asleep just fine when Calan is having a "crib party" rocking and singing to himself at night, and Calan sleeps through Maisie who about once a night cries out, but will either fall right back to sleep or just needs her pacifier. For nap time, I still have Maisie upstairs, but that is my choice. I think that it works better for us right now. 
• Calan has become a little energizer bunny at night. We usually put the kids to bed around 7:30, but he can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours to fall asleep. I use to try and get him to lay down, but I have found that does not help the situation. Usually if I just leave him alone, he finally does go to sleep. Though when he gets bored singing to himself or rocking, he tends to start calling for Maisie. While I find it adorable, I do go in then and lay him back down. Nap times have become a breeze. I put him down around 12:30 and he is usually out pretty quickly and sleeps till at least 3. For how much I struggled with nap times, it is amazing to me how well he sleeps now. 
• Maisie is my sleeping champ (for the most part). With her in her crib, she is sleeping much better at night. Usually, however, she does cry out once each night. It seems to be a startled cry like a nightmare or something like it. Usually just giving her a pacifier and laying her back down does the trick. Not really sure why she does it or how to get her to break the habit, for now, luckily, there is any easy solution to comfort her. Maisie is a great napper and always has been. Maybe it is a second child thing. If we are home, she naps from 9 till about 10:30 in the morning, but is perfectly OK skipping the nap if we are out and about. She then sleeps from 12:30 till at least 3:30. If she missed her morning nap, she goes from 12 till 3:30. I never worry about her getting enough sleep or being rested. But to make sure that both kids get a good nap, I have them nap in different rooms. I don't see myself changing that anytime soon. It works for us. 

Eating

Maisie tryout sweet potato fries, an easy favorite. 

• Both kids made huge strides in eating over the past month. Maisie is eating more solid foods and Calan is eating without a fight. 
• I had to resort to a little bribery and timeouts to get Calan to eat his food. He loves bread and most fruits, but was avoiding anything he didn't want and just saying "all done." I now do not have to even use bribes and usually just a threat of a timeout solves any eating issues. I am not the mother that thinks that he needs to eat everything on his plate, but he does have to at least try everything. Dinner times have been way more peaceful and he is sleeping better and rocking less at night because I think he was hungry. 
• Maisie has been doing great eating. I still have not giving her a ton of solid food basically because of laziness on my part, but what I have given, she has done fine with. She loves sweet potato fries and bananas. She has had toast and some strawberries. I did try to give her some scramble eggs, only to find out she is allergic. (Yea, that was fun.) So far she hasn't had any reactions to any other foods. When she is a year old, we will have her tested. She will most likely grow out of the allergy. 

Activities/Milestones

The kids looking through their Easter baskets. Cheerio filled eggs were a huge hit. 

• Maisie had her first Easter. Both kids liked their Easter baskets. We went to church, had brunch with Bob's mom, and then headed over to Bob's dad's for dinner. Nothing crazy, but fun nonetheless. 
• Maisie is now pulling herself up like a champ. She has just begun to transfer between items standing up like from the ottomen to the chair. She is crawling all over the place and usually crawls right to my feet and climbs up me to be held if I am in the room with her. 
• Maisie is still lacking vocal vocabulary. She is pretty quiet most of the time, but I have heard her say "i, i, i" a few times and "mmmm" and if you do a cough noise she repeats the noise. She just enjoys observing the world. 
• Calan's vocabulary keeps expanding. Funny things are starting to come out of him. Like if he is eating something he actually likes he says, "mmm, that's good." Or a couple weeks ago, I said "thanks, honey," to bob for something and Calan said "thanks, honey," most of the day. Pretty cute. 
• Calan is finally saying other colors than blue when asked, so he might not be color-blind after all. 
• My sister and her family came to visit in April and the kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins who are 9 and almost 12. And my nieces loved playing with the babies. It was great to see my kids playing with their family. The last time we saw them, I was pregnant with Maisie and Calan was almost 1. A lot has changed in a year. 

Schedule

I really revamped and worked on our schedule this month and that has been a huge help in keeping the peace in our home. If you have a toddler and not on a schedule, I highly recommend starting. Life really is a lot easier when they know what is coming next. 

7/7:30 a.m. Wake up/ Maisie bottle

8 a.m. Breakfast

8:30 a.m. Maisie pack-and-play time (independent playtime); Calan and I chores. (Calan loves to sweep and clean up.)

9 a.m. Maisie nap time. Calan room time. And I take a peaceful shower and get ready. 

9:30 a.m. Calan TV time and I get coffee time. 

10 a.m. Calan and I play (usually with his train table)

10:30 a.m. Maisie wakes up and the kids play together

11 a.m. Maisie bottle; Calan either free play or TV time depending on his mood. I get lunch ready. 

11:30 a.m. Lunch

12 p.m. Play outside or story time or free play inside

12:30 p.m. Both kids nap. 

3 p.m. Kids start to wake up. TV time fore Calan if Maisie is not up yet. 

3:30 p.m. Blanket time and snack time for both kids. 

4 p.m. Depends on the day. Sometimes learning time, sometimes errands, sometimes outside play time. 

5 p.m. Prep for dinner

6 p.m. Dinner time

6:30 p.m. Bath time

7 p.m. Daddy time or TV time

7:30 p.m. Bedtime

Overall

What a great month! We still had some lingering colds, but nothing like March. The kids are starting to act like siblings and that is pretty fun to watch most of the time as long as Calan isn't hurting his sister. Another month done and this month is almost over already. Summer is just going to fly on by. 

Calan has become increasingly interested in Maisie and wants to know where she is at all times. He probably says her name 100 times a day. Cute ... yes; Annoying ... Absolutely. 

21 months & 8 months

Seriously, how is my baby 8 months old already? Since I was so late, doing the 20 month/7 month update, it seems like I just did this, but it has been a crazy busy month filled with tons of milestones and more sickness.

This past week, the kids and I have been dealing the a cold from hell. Both kids got ear infections and pink eye. I went to the doctors so much in the past two weeks that it really became a joke. The kids were about a two-days off from what ever the other one had. Maisie had pink eye first, then Calan's ear infection, then Calan's pink eye, and then Maisie's ear infection. Seriously, this was my life the past week and a half. Now, throw in there that I also had the cold from hell and it was the week from hell. Luckily Bob has been immune up till now and as he seems to be coming down with it, we are all getting better.

So here is what the kids are up to:

Sleeping

• We started to let the kids sleep together at night and from 7 p.m. till 3 a.m. it is fine, but after that usually Maisie makes her way up stairs with us. If she fusses too much and wakes up Calan, Calan will stay awake rocking for at least an hour or more. I usually grab Maisie and put her back to sleep upstairs. However, if Calan wakes up, Maisie pretty much sleeps through it. So, we are getting there, but we are not close enough yet.
• Calan - The ear infection really threw me for a loop. Because he is known to wake up in the middle of the night rocking, it took me 3 nights of no sleep for me to realize that something more was wrong. Poor little guy! His naps have been hit or miss, but usually 2 hours. I love the days that it is 3, but it does seem to be more 2 to 2.5 hours this month. And it goes without saying that his rocking is still my archnemisis. Not sure when I will let go about it, but geez to I just pray that it will stop SOON.
• Maisie - Seems to be settling into a good 2 nap schedule. She usually takes a shorter nap in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon. She has been having a hard time going to bed and needs to be more cuddled, but she is going down. Maisie does seem to be going through her 37 Wonder Week, which is may include nightmares. Maisie seems to be affected by this. She cries out the saddest cry about an hour and a half into sleeping. I usually just lay her back down and give her a pacifier and she settles back to sleep instantly.

Eating

• Calan - His appetite has decreased by a ton. He use to be an empty pit for food that he liked, but he really has slowed down quite a bit. One issue that I am facing is that when he gets a little bored at the table or he seems to have finished only the things he likes he says "All done" and throws a bit of a tantrum till I let him down from the table. I try to ignore it and get him to eat more, but the behavior is just not getting better. It is always worse at dinner than during the day. I have found that time outs really don't help the situation. He calms down sit quietly in his crib and then when put back at the table instant tantrum. So, I have just been trying to stretch the time each day. I usually use Maisie as an excuse saying that we need to wait till she is done. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. Oh, how I love toddlers. He is doing really well with his spoon and fork. He still makes a pretty big mess, but he gets a lot of food in his mouth.
• Maisie - She is now eating a few more purees like peaches, peas, and green beans. I have tried giving her Cheerios and she is just not into picking up food to her mouth, which is so different from Calan. He ate food so quickly and I never had to worry about the way he chewed and at his food. He was a great eater. It has been a very slow go with Maisie. She only likes purees. I tried giving her a a banana piece and she choked a little and spitup, so that was a failed attempt. Getting her to eat finger foods is my goal for this month. Hopefully, we will get there.

Activities/Milestones

• Calan - He is still our little golfer. He has been swinging up a storm and loves to go outside and hit balls in the backyard. We also took him to the driving range for the first time. He was adorable. He wanted to hit every ball, which only allowed Bob to hit probably 6. But he listened well and stayed with Bob and loved watching the other golfers take their swings. It was a great family moment.
  I have also started to transition Calan from pack-and-play-time to room-time independent playtime.
  He is doing pretty well, and for the most part sticks to playing with his toys and reading books while I shower. Unfortunately, our bathroom is right across from his bedroom, so the second I am done showering he wants to come out of his room. So, we are working on it.



Calan playing during roomtime

• Maisie - What a busy little girl! She has learned to crawl and sit up on her own. She was so proud of herself when she finally got it. She is loving the fact that she can get to Calan's toys now. I can place her toys within reach and she crawls right over to his toys. On top of being sick, Maisie also had both top teeth cut through. So she is now up to 4. As I have transitioned Calan into room time, I have started Maisie on pack-and-play time. I don't do it every day, but when she isn't napping and Calan is having room time, she has pack-and-play time. She does just fine in there playing with toys.

Maisie playing during pack-and-play time

Schedule

There was a lot going on this past month between Bob's grandmother unexpectedly passing away and the kids being sick and daylight savings time, we have really gotten away from our schedule. But here is what it sometimes looks like:

7:30 a.m. - Kids wake up. Maisie has her bottle.

8 a.m. - Family breakfast, including Maisie's solids.

8:30 a.m. - Playing in the family room and getting Maisie dressed

9 a.m. - Maisie nap, chores for Calan and I

9:30 a.m. - Calan room time

10:00 a.m. - Structured activity like puzzles or craft or something like that, But with the kids sick the last week or so it has been more TV time

10:30 a.m. - Maisie wakes up / kids play in family room

11 a.m. - Maisie Bottle

11:30 a.m. - Lunch

12 p.m. - Both kids blanket time, but again since the kids were sick it has been more TV time instead of blanket time.

12:30 p.m. - Story time and then Maisie and Calan afternoon nap

3 p.m. - Kids wake up, Maisie bottle. Calan is slow to wake up, so he again usually watches a little TV (this month TV again was a bad habit. I blame it on the sickness through our house)

3:30 p.m. - Calan snack time

4 p.m. - Free time (this becomes anything from crafts to errands to TV to music to sibling playtime to whatever keeps everyone happy.)

6 p.m. - Dinner time

6:30 p.m. - Bath time

7 or 7:30 p.m. - Bedtime (Depends on how well their afternoon nap went. If it was more of a 2:15 p.m. wake up then bedtime is closer to 7 and if it was a 3 p.m. wake up, then it is closer to 7:30)

Overall

• Calan - Well the plague sickness, really threw us for a loop. Calan was just not his happy go lucky self this past month, but he did have his moments. He is getting a little more interested in structured activities like crafts and puzzles, but still loves physical activities most. He learned to jump as well this month and is pretty cute jumping around and dancing. He is playing so well with his sister and is really understanding that soon she will be a playmate. But doesn't always get that she isn't quite big enough yet. He has tried to pick her up and move her a few times, but then asks for my help to "get" her. They laugh and giggle with each other. It is so adorable.
• Maisie - She is loving her new found freedoms. She is so proud of herself. Even with a Wonder Week, 2 teeth coming through, pink eye, an ear infection, and a horrible cold, she was actually pretty good. I felt so horrible for her, but she just smiled through.

Ever since her top teeth have come through, she has been doing this with her tongue. It is absolutely adorable!

Calan during an Easter egg hunt. He got six eggs and then told me he was all done. 

19 month/ 6 month update

Another month has past and by far, this was our hardest month. It seemed like the perfect storm. The kids have gotten into a schedule that is basically a tag team and that includes their night sleep. I am hoping that this month everything gets better.

Despite all the craziness, there have been some amazing moments too. Maisie has grown leaps and bounds and Calan is just a bundle of toddler fun. He is into everything and it is getting fun (and exhausting) watching him explore. He continues to be an amazing big brother getting things for Maisie and helping her. However, he has injured her as well exploring his ability to bite. He has only done it twice - once last month and once this month. I am just praying that it is not a regular thing. He has some chompers!

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

Sleeping

• Calan – He has been waking up in the middle of the night and really having a hard time settling down. I have had to sleep on his floor twice in order to get him to rest. Not fun! With him being sick with a cold most of this month, we would switch back and forth from one-nap and two-nap days depending on how he was acting or slept the night before. He was pretty good switching back and forth. I could tell when he needed them. But overall, not a good sleeping month.
• Maisie – Still not sleeping through the night. Pretty much my fault at this point. I am working on getting her to stretch it out, but I still seem to wake up twice. She is good with a pacifier for one wake up, but usually needs 2-4 ounces of formula during the next wakeup to settle back down. She is down to 3 naps already. Her morning is actually her shortest, which isn’t exactly normal. She usually sleeps about an hour. Her afternoon nap is usually about 2.5 hours, and her evening nap is usually 1-2 hours.

Eating

• Calan – Starting to wonder if veggies will ever go back to being easy. He still loves bananas and now stands at the fruit bowl saying banana-nana over and over and over again. He usually eats a HUGE breakfast and a good-size lunch, but tends to eat way less at dinner. Probably because it is the meal I give him the most veggies.
• Maisie – We have started to give Maisie some oatmeal cereal. She is not doing very well with it, but each night we try just a little and she is getting better at it. She just is not quite getting the whole tongue and swallow thing. I know that it takes time, but it is still frustrating. Hopefully by next month, we will have it done and working on some veggie purees.

Milestones

• Calan – Again, Calan’s vocabulary and understanding astound Bob and I, as well as his ability to tune me out already. He loves to sing and has started to sing-along. He inserts the words he knows in songs like the letters C, G, and P in ABCs or High and Sky and Star in “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” I love listening to him sing to himself as he is going to sleep or while playing in his pack-and-play. It cracks me up!
• Maisie –Maisie has had an amazing month on milestones. She got her first tooth and the second should be popping out any day now. She is rolling over back to stomach. She has started to connect a few rolls together, but still isn’t getting too far yet. She just loves to be on her belly now. She scoots around to get to things she wants to grab. She is starting to sit up. I still need to have a Boppy around her for support, but she does sit up for about 20 seconds unassisted.

Activities

• Calan – Calan is all over the place as usual. He is all boy when it comes to activities. Hates doing crafts, but loves playing with his trucks, cars, and balls. Unfortunately, he is also getting use to some TV programs and has begun to ask for them. Pretty much a sign that I have let him watch too much. I’ll be trying to wean him a bit this next month. Calan also loves to clean. Don’t ask me why, but the vacuum just is amazing to him. If he is getting whiny or irritable, we usually start cleaning together and his mood perks up instantly. I hope he stays like this FOREVER.
• Maisie – She is a burst of energy. She is so awake and active right now. She is pretty much always smiling and loving her new tricks like rolling over and sitting up. She is really exploring and studying things right now. I am pretty sure over the next month, she is going to be giving Calan a run for his money. Not sure what he is going to do once she is mobile.

Schedule

• 7/7:30 a.m. – Maisie and Calan wake up. Maisie eats and gets dressed. Calan slowly rises and either plays with some toys or watches TV.
• 7:30/8 a.m. – Family eats breakfast. Maisie plays in her bouncy chair.
• 8:30 a.m. – Bob leaves for work. Calan plays in his pack-and-play. Maisie plays either in her bouncy chair while I shower or her play mat while I do some chores.
• 9 a.m.- Maisie nap
• 9:30 a.m. – Calan finishes pack-and-play time and he gets dressed. Helps me with some chores.
• 10:00 a.m. – Calan has free playtime. Maisie has been waking up usually between 10 and 10:30.
• 10:30 a.m. – Maisie eats. Calan watches some TV or if he is playing well with toys then no TV.
• 11 a.m. – Calan and Maisie play together. This is usually with Maisie in the exersaucer and Calan playing around her.
• 11:30 a.m.- Calan and I have lunch. Maisie usually goes down for her second nap.
• 12 p.m. – Calan has blanket time.
• 12:30 p.m. – Calan naps
• 1:30/2 p.m. – Maisie wakes up
• 2 p.m. – Maisie eats
• 3 p.m. – Calan wakes up
• 3:30 p.m. – Calan snack time.
• 4 p.m. – Maisie has her third nap for the day. Calan has free playtime.
• 5 p.m. – I start cooking dinner, so either Calan continues playing well or if he is cranky, TV gets put on again (I know … This is what I need to change.)
• 5:30 p.m. - Maisie wakes up has some solids.
• 6 p.m. – Dinner for everyone.
• 6:30 p.m. – Bath time
• 7 p.m. – bedtime if Calan had a bad nap.
• 7:30 p.m. – Maisie and Calan bedtime

Overall

• Calan – Calan continues to listen pretty well to us. He follows instruction 70% of the time and I think that is great for a toddler. He laughs at everything. Says hi to EVERYONE. Loves being social and loves to sing.
• Maisie – Maisie has completely broken out of her shell. She is nothing but sunshine and smiles. Even when she wakes me up in the middle of the night she grins from ear-to-ear. For being a lump on a log for so long, she has become a fast learner. She has exploded in size, going from 10lbs 12oz at 4 months to 16lbs 4oz this month. I hope she slows back down a little.

New favorite way to play. 

Out to lunch. 

Best nap hair yet!

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.

16 month / 3 month update

Well another month has flown by and my babies are getting bigger by the day. I feel like I just did this for 15 months and 2 months and here we are another month older. They are doing so well and I love every moment (well almost every moment, I am human).

So here is the round up:

Sleeping

• Calan - Overall Calan is still a great sleeper. He was still taking 2 great naps of about 1.5 to 2 hours each everyday, but he was waking in the middle of the night and playing or rocking for long extended periods of time. I think that he was getting too much sleep during the day and it was effecting his nighttime sleep. This week, I have started to transition him to one nap. Out of 4 days of doing it, 2 were great, 1 he didn't nap well and ended up going to bed early, and 1 he needed 2 naps. So it is just the beginning and we are taking it on a day-by-day basis. If he seems like he needs 2, he gets 2; if he needs 1, then he gets 1. It is making it a little hard to plan things right now, but overall, I think he is ready to go to 1 nap, so I don't think we will be in limbo for too long.
• Maisie -  She is still a sleeping champ once I get her to sleep. She is very particular and if something isn't quite right, it can take awhile to get her to sleep. She still sleeps with a blanket over her head. I am sure I am setting up some bad habits that won't be easy to break her off, but she naps so well when everything is done right. It is the difference between a 20-minute catnap and a 2-hour glorious nap. At night, she is still waking up once or twice. This past week she went through a crazy growth spurt and woke up a ton, but that seems to have settled down and we are back to the regular once or twice. Hoping that my night waking days are numbered. I hope she is getting close to sleeping through the night.

Eating

• Calan - He is still eating a ton. I actually had to increase our grocery bill to keep up. He loves most foods, but he is still particular about how they are cooked or seasoned. He is a carbohydrate addict, so I try to give his other foods first. We are also eating out more and more with him. He behaves really well for the most part. It is nice to know that we can go out to eat and not worry how he is going to act. Since he eats so many things, there is always something we can give him when we are out and about.
• Maisie - She is still nursing really well. With the growth spurt, I could barely keep up with her. She was eating basically every 2 hours. She also has had a little bit of formula to fill in when I wasn't around. She took it just fine. When I was nursing Calan, I tried to keep up an extra supply for when I was gone, and it was horrible having to figure out when he might sleep well and I would be able to wake up and pump some. This time I decided that I wasn't going to drive myself crazy. If I need to, she will have formula if I don't have extra breast milk around. This past week was the first time we had to and she did fine.

Milestones

• Calan - He is doing a lot of the same things he did last month, just better. He is saying please for everything and not just in sign language. He says please for everything from getting out of his pack-and-play to opening the gate to more food. It is great that he is doing it, but he doesn't quite understand why sometimes please doesn't get him what he wants when he wants it. However for the most part, "please" has cut down on tantrums.
  The last of Calan's incisor teeth came through this month. Thank goodness! We should be done with teething till his 2-year-molars. Kind of crazy to think that last Halloween Calan's first teeth popped through and now we are finally done for awhile.
  He is picking up on so many things so quickly now. For example, Bob taught him how to show the touchdown hand signal in one day. That would have taken me a month to teach before.
  He is climbing up on furniture pretty easily now and for the most part doesn't roll off. He understands that he has to climb down carefully. 
• Maisie -  She isn't rolling over as much as she was last month. She gets her arms in the way and can't figure out how to get over them. She is blowing raspberries, batting at some close toys and pulling blankets up to her mouth.

Activities

• Calan - Calan is still doing pack-and-play time in the morning and he is up to 15-minutes of blanket time each day. We are working on matching colors and focusing on red, blue, and green. He is doing pretty well with it and says blue. We have also started coloring. We are attending playgroup on Thursdays and he does well sitting on the rug for story time and listening to the instructor. 
• Maisie - Her activities are about the same. Cooing, smiling and floor time. I hope to be a little more specific in my activities with her. I should be doing more floor time than I am. 

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 a.m. - Calan playtime/reading time
• 10 a.m. - Maisie eats, we play together
• 11 a.m. - Maisie naps
• 11:30 a.m. - Calan eats lunch
• 12 p.m. - Calan blanket time (15 min.) / devotionals
• 1 p.m. - Calan nap; Maisie eats
• 2 p.m. - Maisie naps
• 3:30 / 4 p.m. -  Calan wakes up / Maisie eats 
• 5 p.m. - free time or errands
• 6 p.m. - dinner
• 6:20 p.m. - bath time
• 6:40 p.m. - Calan gets ready for bed; drinks milk
• 7 p.m. - Calan bedtime/Maisie eats
• 7:30 p.m. - Maise bedtime
• 10:30 p.m. - Maisie eats
• 3 a.m. - Middle of the night feeding for Maisie

Overall

• Calan - He is definitely transitioning into a full blown toddler. He is learning new things everyday and starting to really interact and play. He is a handful, but he is such a blessing and I love watching him grow and evolve into a little boy. 
• Maisie - She is so smiley and happy. She loves watching Calan play around her. She never seems to care when he is poking at her. She does get frustrated quickly and has little patience. She loves