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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Pictures at home from June

This month has just flown by and I can't believe we're just about a 1/3 of the way through summer already.  How does that happen, and why can't it happen in February rather than June?  


This photo is altogether ridiculous, no?  Not posed at all, Gus just climbed up there to sit by Louie and then when I went to take a cute picture he did some goofy rubbing of Louie's head and of course refused to move the cup of milk from his mouth. (Seriously his cup of milk is like another body part, it is ALWAYS THERE... I'm a little concerned about what this means for potty training.) 


Louie will be six months old this weekend.  Half a year already.  I mean honestly!  In honor of this half a year milestone, I will be leaving him for a whole weekend in the middle of July.  I'm just now starting to come to terms with this fact and am starting to obsess a little.  I'm so excited for a weekend with my girlfriends, but of course a little nervous to leave these boys on their own.  I didn't leave Gus overnight until he was 18 months old... because the idea caused me to panic, but Louie is such a different baby.  It'll be FINE.  Right?  Right!  


Louie also sprouted two teeth this month, which made me quite happy because maybe his horrible sleeping at night from about four months old on has been for a legitimate reason!  And just after these two teeth popped up, he slept through the night for the first time, a feat Gus has managed probably fifteen times in his whole 33 months of life.

Sleeping all the way through the night was of course just that one time, however the sleep thing overall has been a bit better.  On good days it's one to two wake-ups per night...I can deal with that.

One sleep-related frustration happening though is that Louie is now rolling onto his tummy like a mad man, pretty much every chance he gets.  That means that when I put him in the pack-n-play to sleep, he often rolls onto his stomach and then doesn't know what to do with himself.  He hasn't quite figured out how to roll the other way, so he's stuck, and he doesn't appear to know or want to learn how to put himself to sleep on his tummy.

That puts us into a predicament.  I watch his antics on the video monitor and find myself  unsure of what  to do and when to intervene.  Usually I don't go in there until he's actually getting upset, but it's frustrating, because these hi-jinks are making the process of getting him to sleep take much longer, and often times I've just fed him, so when I do go in there he's spit up massive amounts all over and I have to change the sheet.

It's also contributing to shorter naps and middle of the night frustrations.  Where as before he would often wake up momentarily and lay there awake for a bit, (sometimes quiet and other times cooing and talking to himself), and then put himself back to sleep, now he sometimes will wake up after like a half hour and roll to his tummy, end then be all, "Okay Mom!  Nap's over!"

I'm pretty confident this is a phase that will fix itself when he learns to roll from tummy to back, but for now... it's really freaking annoying.


Gus benefits from the fact that his mother is nursing his brother and consequently is ALWAYS HUNGRY and prone to impulse buys at the grocery store.  Here he is eating a Vanilla Wafer cookie.  Super random, yes, and I bought a huge bulk box of them at Costco?  What is wrong with me?


I'm loving how sweet these two are together.  Louie just adores his big brother, like truly can not get enough of him.  And Gus loves to make Louie laugh, which has come especially handy on long car trips where things are getting dicey with the little one.  Gus can usually perk him up a bit and even turn things around when Louie's about to lose it.    


Who doesn't wear snorkel gear in a 10 foot round pool?


Crazy drool... proof of a teething baby.




A blurry photo, but it's just oh so sweet.  


No, we do not take very good care of our lawn.  It is about 1/3 grass and 2/3 weeds.  Maybe someday I'll care enough to fertilize and kill weeds and all that, but not during this current stage of life.  


Okay, this picture was taken last Friday after my failed attempt to start potty training Gus (notice the diaper?).  Oh boy.  We went diaper-free upon him waking up... and that was a doozy of a morning.  After going through four pairs of underwear before 11:00 AM (plus an accident when he was in his swimsuit outside running through the sprinkler), I gave up.  Right before that he was sitting on the potty for a half hour because he had to go #2 and I KNEW IT, and he just wouldn't go.  So when Louie woke up from his nap and I knew he would want to nurse (and he refuses to nurse with Gus in the room), I put a diaper on him quick before I went to get his brother.  

I came back ten minutes later and sure enough.  #2 in his diaper.  Little rascal.  

I'm declaring that he is not ready.  He's showing some signs of being ready, but then there are others that indicate he's totally not (like refusing to help undress himself at all, and not ever actually initiating going to the potty himself).  

So I'm done for now.  We'll try again in a few weeks, or a month.  Actually I'm really not willing to commit to any specific date at this point, the horror is too fresh.  So... someday, we'll try again.  

Ahhh potty training, I've barely even dipped my toe in the waters and I already HATE YOU.


Look how pretty!  Our grass may be hideous but our gardens and perennials are looking pretty good!  (Though note to future self: don't ever plant asters in the window boxes again, just... not working.)

The more and more I learn about plants, the more I think they are pretty awesome.  Dan planted just a small little morning glory annual in the ground below that trellis less than a month ago, and it has been really cool to watch it climb the trellis.  Every day it's bigger and doing new things.  

You know you're getting old when watching plants grow starts to thrill you, huh?


Here's Dan's twelve thousandth attempt to teach Gus how to peddle, this time by actually tying his feet to the peddles.    


Gus had other ideas.  "Daddy you ride it!!"



And later... "Daddy build something with Thomas legos?!  Please Daddy?  Please?"

We're both suckers for when he says please, even though playing with these stupid mega blocks ALWAYS ends in hysterics and tears because they fall apart so easily.   

6 comments:

Berbs33 said...

First off, your boys are adorable and I just can't get enough of the pictures!

* As for Louie and the tummy thing... Mason went through the same phase, he was so excited to get onto his belly and then nothing fun came of it and he would get mad! Hopefully he learns to roll form tummy to back soon and the lack of sleeping will get better.

* Now about that potty training. Colton as 2 yrs 9 months when I finally decided to give it a try. I did just like you, took away diapers that morning and withing the first 3 hrs or so he wet through 6 pairs of underwear! My thought was "come on kid, this isn't that difficult"! I didn't give up and sure enough that was it... after that 6th change of pants he must have gotten sick of it cause he has never wet his pants again. When Gus is ready you will know, he will finally just realize that diapers are not fun and will love his boy boy underwear. Stick with is (whenever you decide to try again) - you will be glad you did when you are only buying diapers for one!

* And about girls weekend. You can do it. Louie will be in good hands and all moms need a break, a refresher weekend, every now and then. Try not to worry about it too much (easier said than done) and get in all the snuggles you can between now and then becuase once we get you out to that island you will spending most of your time running from tigers and serial killser and you wont have time to worry about how the boys are doing (which they will be doing just great of course)!!

Erin said...

Hopefully Louie figures out how to sleep with his newfound mobility! I just imagine all babies as tummy sleepers because both of mine were pretty much the second they learned to roll over... guess not :)

Our lawn is also a pile of crap - so uneven, so many weeds, and I so just don't care. Probably never will.

Ohhhhhhh potty training. It's true that at some point you'll probably just have to go for it, but sadly it might not just happen after one bad day, as I am living proof - and daycare is a WHOLE other issue entirely. Eh, at some point they'll get it. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. That and thank god we have hardwood floors. Also, Annie barely drinks anything, so the milk cup will just be a way for him to have many, many "learning opportunities" :) I too felt the panic for that first week or so. Still do really, but mostly just about how she did at daycare - she's been doing relatively ok at home I guess. If it's been over a day with no poop though? Now that's real panic. I do think it's probably a good idea for day one to at least have someone else involved so that one person CAN be completely focused on when Gus pees every single time that day. Obviously not a fun day at all but that's part of what helps them. I have the 3 day potty training pdf if you want it - email me (erinkkr at gmail) if you want it!

Unknown said...

Your babe is so delicious! What a chunkster.

So, I'm curious about your weekend away baby free. The other week a few girlfriends asked me to go away for an adults only weekend. Wine tours, sleeping in nice hotels, etc. Instantly I had my back up. What about my baby? Um...I'm breastfeeding. Hello? She's so tiny. How could I leave her? I got all antsy and said no that I couldn't come. Baby is too young. Nonetheless, they are all going.

I'm liking that you are going away. I'm wondering if my baby would actually take bottles of pumped milk if things would be different? It's all boobs all the time.

Sorry for the ramble!

Freckles said...

We, too, can't believe June is already over! Summer is flying by for sure - especially with a newborn, the past few weeks have wizzed by! I love your pictures, and I just adore those two adorable boys of yours. They are so photogenic! Such a wonderful family :D

AliRose said...

Mama in the City - Ohhhhh the internal struggles about leaving my baby at such a young age, I am realing a bit. When I committed to going I knew he would be over 6 months old and I felt like that was old enough, any younger and I probably wouldn't have done it.

But now still, I'm pretty nervous. He still gets up quite a bit to nurse throughout the night, though is pretty good at putting himself to sleep, and is okay with the bottle (after a really stresful few months before I went back to work when he was totally refusing).

I don't know, he's really attached to me, and that's not a bad thing, but it does make me worried that he's going to be really really sad while I'm away for about a day and a half... two nights.

I am encouraging my husband to stay super busy, get out of the house, go places where he's not thinking about the fact that I'm not there,

Ugh. Can you tell? The internal struggles?

This weekend we're going to do a bottle in the middle of the night, and see what happens. A little trial run. Cross your fingers for me. We probably should have done a trial run of bottle in the middle of the night long before there was just a week to go before the real deal. Ahh well. Best intentions and all that.

I think it's totally okay that you said flat out, no. Not going to happen. You have to do what makes you comfortable, and when my friends did a girl's night when Gus was 8 months old, I couldn't bring myself to do it, and left at midnight to go home to my baby.

But... he was SUCH a different baby than Louie is.

GAH! Talk about rambling!

Erin said...

Catching up on your blogging! I'm way behind. I relate to so, so much of this!

1. Potty training - we tried so many times with Lib but it was just her decision at some point (I think it was about three months after her third bday?) to do it. She decided she didn't want diapers anymore and that was that. I could've saved myself a lot of angst if I would've just backed off, but I felt like I should at least be trying? I had a friend that told me, "if you start potty training when they're two, you'll be done when they're three. If you start when they're three, you'll be done when they're three." which I know isn't true in all cases but made me feel better...? each kid is so different so it's so hard. :/

2. Sleeping: Evie's been off since her six month shots. Wanting to nurse a lot during the night. I'm trying to figure out that - hopefully she's done with teeth for a little while b/c she has the two on the bottom - but also trying to figure out if I should start doing formula once in a while b/c do I really want to pump when I go back to school this fall? It's going so well but I hate, hate pumping...

3. Girls' weekend: I saw photos and it looks like you guys had such an awesome time! Yay! Mine is this weekend. Similar guilty feelings, but man...I am so excited! But dreading the pumping.

4. Your most recent blog about meeting people: I totally identify. One of my best friends lives in Robbinsdale, though - you guys would get along great. Although, her youngest is at least a year older than Gus and is a girl...is it more of a thing where you want the kids to match up? She's a SAHM. Let me know if you want her info :) I generally make an ass of myself thinking, why WOULDN'T everyone want to hang out?! when really they probably want me to leave them alone. But people are hard to read, and it was so much easier to meet people in college when you just drank a bunch of beer and everyone was your best friend ;-)

5. Sorry for the marathon comment. I just find myself thinking, GOD, me too - every time I read your blog! Thanks for posting all of this. :) I am so glad I met you through Liz, hopefully we can hang out sometime!