7 Months, Flies, Pumpkins and the like

Life is so full of interesting and fun things these days I simply can't remember them all, let alone blog them.  But here are a few things I do remember...

Lily-ism

Last night at supper, a fly was pestering us.  It landed on a jar that was sitting in the middle of the table (not a food jar), so Chase got the fly swatter.  He crept back to the table, poised to use the swatter for its designed purpose.  Just as he was about to swing, Lily realized what was happening and she shrieked, "Daddy!  Don't!  He's my friend."  

Connor-ness

This handsome guy is officially 7 months old today!  (Sorry, ladies, he's all mine!)

I can't imagine life without him, and 7 months seems like such a long time ago... until I think about what it was like 7 months ago, and then I'm just SO glad I'm not there any more!  I really try to appreciate each day.  Just as you never get day 1 over again, you never get day 49 or 207 or 23,745 over again.  Each day is precious, and although many over the past 7 months have been hard as Connor and I have figured each other out, I wouldn't trade a single one.  ...But that doesn't mean I can't be thankful that we are where we are today, right?

Speaking of being hard as we're figuring each other out...  The last week has been a bit rocky.  We're good during the day, but my little man was NOT sleeping well at night.  I'm talking up at least every 2 hours.  For example, he would go down at 8, up at midnight, 1:30, 3:15, 4:20, 6:15, and then up for the day at 7:45.  He's not a bad sleeper in that I'd go in and feed him about every 3 or 4 hours (maybe more often.  I'm not really sure.  It's hard to remember what you did last and what you should do next when you're operating in the middle of the night on no sleep.).  And then he'd go right back to sleep.  Or I'd give him his plug (paci) and he'd go right back to sleep.  Or I'd roll him from his back onto his tummy and he'd go right back to sleep

Bu here's the thing: he can do all those things on his own (put in his paci! My favorite mile stone! and roll over.  He can't feed himself, but he's old enough and certainly eating enough that he shouldn't need to get up at night.  That hasn't stopped him, however, from getting me up at least 2 times every night since the day he was born...)  So why was I doing all those things for him?  

Because.  Because he shares a room with his sister, and I didn't want him waking her up.  So I'd stumble in there, bleary-eyed and try to decide what to do to make him quit making noise.  Well, yesterday was the end.  I couldn't do it anymore.  My body aches, my mental state can't take it, and for pete's sake, I need a little me time where I'm not simply exhausted!  So sleep training started last night.  Here's the run down:

After a little research, I decided to let him cry any time he woke up for 10 minutes.  At that point, I would go in, make sure he had his plug, start his music mobile, make sure he was on his tummy and covered by his blanket and then walk out of the room.  I'd do this every 10 minutes until he fell back asleep.  If he woke Lily (who was warned that he might cry in the night), I would scoop her out of her bed (which is next to his), carry her to the rocking chair in the hall, rock her until he fell asleep, then put her back in her bed.

Here's how it went last night:

Night 1 - Connor was bed and asleep at 8pm, no problem (he always goes down easy)

Round 1 - 10:30pm-11:00pm.  Crying intensity was a 6.  Mommy win.  He went back to sleep.

Round 2 - 1:28am-1:43am  Crying intensity was a 4.  Mommy win.  He went back to sleep.

Round 3 - 3:36am-4:28am  Crying intensity ranged from 2-9.  Mommy win.  He went back to sleep.

Woke up for the day at 6:50am

Tonight he went  to bed at 7:30.  It's now 10:17, so we'll see how it goes.  I can say that I'm happier already because I can plan on a full night's sleep sometime in the near future, like a few days from now, or maybe even tonight!  It's the light at the end of the tunnel.  Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't have to decide what to do - I already have a plan.  It's marvelous!  

To top it all off, Lily slept through every bit of it last night.  Not a peep from her!  Totally awesome! And Chase only woke up for the 15 minute episode, not the 1 hour episode.  It sounds cruel, and it probably seems like a lot to lay there and listen to your child cry for an hour in the middle of the night, but we were at the point of him being awake and in bed with me for 2 hours in the middle of the night, so this is really a pleasant change!  And I can tell he's going to take to this very well once we get through these first few nights.

I'm not a big fan of the whole cry it out method - I like soothing when I can, but there is a reality to everyone getting good sleep and littles learning to self soothe.  We're there.  And I'm looking forward to being over the hump!

Pumpkins

I think I said in my last post how much we have loved the pumpkin patch this year.  It's been amazing.  Here are some pictures from one of our visits:

And with that, I'm going to go to bed and hope/pray for no sleep battles with Connor in the night.  But if we end up having a round or two, at least I'll know what to do!

'Night y'all!

Life, Football, and Mobility

Every night as I collapse lay down in bed, I think of at least one and often many funny, clever, or memorable things that I should blog about.  And then I end up reading instead of writing, because I'm too exhausted and/or lazy to get out my computer.  So here are just a few things that have filled our life lately...

LILY

Since Connor was born, I've worn him every now and then in my Ergo (front carrier).  When we were shopping a few weeks ago, Lily found a giraffe that she just loved, and since we got it a few weeks ago, she's been carrying it around.  Sometimes like this:

Last month, Lily turned 3, which means that she now gets all of the privileges and responsibilities normally bestowed upon any 3 year old.  In our world, that means she now gets to go to Children's Church on Sunday mornings.  This month, Chase and I have been teaching Children's Church, so it's been an easy transition for her.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a guest fill the pulpit at church.  (I think a requirement of filling the pulpit should be that you have taught Children's Church at least once.)  He went on for a LOT longer than the typical time allotted for sermons.  So...  So we whipped out the secret weapon: Chase.

That Sunday, we sang "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."  ...well...  MOST of us sang "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."  Chase sang, "Cranium and Clavicle, Patella and... [insert fits of hysterical laughter by 9 small children here]."  We spent the next 473 attempts at the song trying to teach Chase the way to sing the song.  Sometimes he'd get the words right all the way to the end, but then get messed up by the ever-confusing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Nose..." ['NOOOOOoooooo!  It's knees and TOES" 9 little voices shout at the top of their lungs].  All I can say is that it's a good thing our class room is really far away from the sanctuary.  Here are the kids "teaching" Chase the song (Lily is all the way on the right):  

 
It was very funny.  And now we have to sing that song every week.  And it gets all of the kids wound UP. And we have a marvelous time.

Lily has become quite the negotiator around our house in the last few weeks.  Or perhaps it's just that she's found her daddy's Achilles heel: football.  She'll sometimes ask me during the day, "Is there football on tonight?"  And then in the evenings, about the time I start the bedtime routine, she asks, "Can I watch football?"  If it were simply me, this wouldn't be any problem.  I'd say, "No, it's bedtime."  However, if she asks her daddy, he says, "Sure, just a little."  Ten minutes or an hour later I find them still cuddling on the couch under the guise of her "learning the rules of football."  It's cute and sweet, and mostly I'm glad.  But, honey, you are getting played!  Her desire to watch football magically surfaces only at bedtime... yeah.  Someday, Daddy, you'll have to face that one.  Just know she's got you figured out!

She's also very good at giving instructions these days.  The other day when I was driving across town, I stopped at a stop sign.  Then her sweet little voice instructs me to, "Be careful not to hit the other cars."

The vast majority of the time, I have a very content and happy 3 year old.  She loves to read and to color.  Lately she's been coloring literally for hours a day.  (Note to self: get her new markers for Christmas.)  And one of her little habits I love is that when I ask her to do something like, "Lily, would you please throw Connor's diaper in the trash?" She responds, "Of course.  I'd love to, Mother."  *Sigh*  I love her.

SIBLINGS

I have two marvelous children.  They are siblings, and it's so fun to watch them develop together.  About a 2 weeks ago I ran into the grocery store (for like the 100th time that week) to get just a couple of things I needed.  It's always a question when I run into the store: Do I take Connor inside in his infant carrier car seat, or do I unstrap him and leave his car seat in the car?  If he'd be happy just sitting in his carseat, then that's the easiest option.  But then Lily can't push her own cart, because I need to put him in a big cart.  If I get Connor out of his car seat, then that means I have to carry him, and my back has been all kinds of hurting lately, so that's not always a great option, especially if a "quick run into the store" turns into 20 minutes.  And then there's the question of how to juggle purse/wallet/cash at the check out while corralling my 3 year old and keeping my 6 month old from grabbing my purse/wallet/cash and dumping it all over the store...  It's exhausting even thinking about it...

So for the first time, I tried this:

HUGE SUCCESS!!!!  Children content and happy, Mommy's back relaxed and not straining, groceries fit in the cart that was not filled by a car seat, no juggling baby while paying for said groceries.  Whoever thought up 2-seat-car-carts should be given a Nobel Prize or something.  Seriously glorious!

CONNOR

My baby boy is growing and changing so much every day.  He's started laughing at the funniest/strangest things.  Like today, Mom told me he laughed when she would drop marbles into a jar.  And tonight he dissolved into giggles when Lily would throw Frazier's Frisbee.

He will crawl soon.  Tonight when I laid him in his crib and then went back to check on him, he was up on all fours, rocking back and forth, back and forth.  I'd seen him get up on all fours, but not for any extended period of time.  Tonight it was like 10 or 15 seconds.  Which doesn't sound like much until you watch it happen and see how not baby-proof your house is...  I'm excited for it, though. I love to watch him explore and take in and experience and learn the world around him.  It's so cool!

Everywhere I go, people comment on his funny hairdo.  I can't help it - whatever I do it sticks up in this awesome halo of super fine, super soft fuzz around his head.  "Wow.  Look at that hair!" they say.  And I'm here to tell you that only God Himself could make it so.  Connor pulled out all the hair had when he was a newborn, and now it's growing out perfectly evenly, and it sticks straight up.  That's my boy!

We went to the Scarecrow Patch last week with my mom.  I had such a wonderful time (I'd never been to a pumpkin patch before, except for that one time I went with my roommates in college...), that I came home and all I could talk about with Chase the whole evening was how much fun the Patch was.  So we're going again.  Tomorrow.  And Chase is expecting Eutopia, which basically it is.  Above is Connor in the corn - he didn't even try to put any in his mouth.  (He's perfect, just like his sister!)  And below, he is honing his driving skills for the next time we go to the grocery store.

FRANCL FUN

One thing we try to do a lot around our house is have fun.  Sometimes it's as simple as finding a puddle to splash in or a book to read or a fort to build.  And sometimes it's more elaborate like going to a party.  Last week, we went to my nephew's birthday part at the bowling alley.  It had been a while since Chase or I bowled, and Lily had never bowled.  My nephew thought he was too good to bumper bowl, but Lily still got to use the dinosaur to bowl, and she was pretty good.  (Chase used the dinosaur to bowl too, but it still went in the gutter...)

This week was friend week at dance class (actually "creative movement" class, Lily's favorite event each week), so we invited her best friend to come.  Thankfully, he was brave enough and comfortable enough with his boy-hood to enter the class of all girls and participate like a little pro.

Thanks for coming Roman!

I'll wrap up by just saying how wonderful fun is when you have friends and family to share it with!