So very tired

Saturday found us spending part of the evening at a Halloween party in Chan. Nolan had a bit of a tough day all day, so in hindsight we were pushing our luck to think it would go well. Nolan had 2 costume choices - and the one I liked best he hated (screaming, kicking, etc. while we tried to get it on him). Luckily we managed to get him in the 2nd costume, and he looked pretty snazzy as a mini Payne Stewart. The party started at 5:30, which isn't usually a real good time at our house. Nolan would not let Adam put him down, so he had to carry him everywhere - through the trick or treat line, the haunted room (toned down to be appropriate for little kids), and the game room. The only thing that cheered Nolan up was the sugar cookie and apple cider he got in the treat room! We lasted until about 6:45 and then we had to go before a major meltdown took place. Kale was perfect and slept through the whole thing. Adam and I are trying to figure out why Nolan is so tired lately. Either he's growing and needs the extra sleep, or we need to make sure he gets to bed at his regular time of 6:30.

Kale is starting to do a whole lot more talking during the day, and by talking I mean cooing and ooing. All of the talking comes with many more smiles, too, so it makes it extra fun! He's started to wake up again around 2:30 every morning, so my job for this week is to try and break him of that habit again!

This week we're heading up to Gina and Eric's house so Adam can do some duck hunting prior to Allie's 3rd birthday party celebration. Hopefully the boys will be nice to me, as they're both with me Thursday and Friday!

Rocks

Yesterday I picked up Nolan a little early from daycare. When I got there he was sitting in a chair. He tried to get up from it, but Jane told him no, as he was in a timeout. He and one of the other little girls were both in a timeout for not listening to Jane when she told them to stop picking up and throwing rocks. These weren't just small rocks, either - they were quite large, and if they fell on their feet they would get hurt. Nolan started crying (drama), and he sat there for about another 30 seconds. When Jane told him he was all done with timeout and reiterated what he needed to do to not be in timeout again, she picked him up and asked him to give her 5 (that's how they end the timeout). He turned his head and refused to even look at her! I took him, and he wouldn't even say goodbye. What a stinker! Timeouts do work with him eventually, but it's always a little drama. I've started using the counting method when he isn't doing something I asked him to do. By "3" he has learned that he needs to listen (most of the time), or he'll get in trouble.

Kale is still sleeping really well at night. Last night I put him to bed in his crib at 7:30, and he slept until 3:30! We've established a bed time routine, and the dream feed helps, too. Hopefully he can keep this up for us. With Nolan going to bed so early I feel I actually have a little time at night to relax! Not only is Kale sleeping really well, he has rolled over twice already while doing tummy time! The first time I thought it was a fluke, but he did it again all on his own. Pretty impressive (in my humble opinion!)

This weekend we're looking forward to taking the boys to a Halloween party with our friends in Chan. Kale is going to be a monkey, and Nolan is either going to be a dragon, bumblebee or golfer. We'll see what he likes best. We had the dragon costume on him last week, and he wasn't a fan of the head of the costume on his head. Hopefully he'll come around!

Kale's video debut

The Digestive System

Yesterday we celebrated Kale’s baptism. The weather was beautiful, and Kale was a really good baby (which he is most of the time). He didn’t cry at all during the service – he slept through the whole thing, just like Nolan did. We hosted both our families for the day after church for lunch, which is always fun, but a bit crowded – 27 people! Nolan took a great nap, probably because before church he tripped on his blanket and fell and hit his head on a door jam. He cried for a long time, and has quite a bump on his melon. He perked up after his nap and had fun playing with his cousins, though. We really didn’t do any clean up last night, as Adam and I were both pretty tired. The house needs to be picked up, but I have all day, right?

After dinner last night Adam and I were eating the last 2 pieces of Kale’s cake. Nolan was eyeing it up, so we gave him a small slice. Earlier in the day he wasn’t at all interested in eating it, so we didn’t think he would be this time, either. The second time around must have been the trick, because once he stuck his finger in the frosting it was all over – he loved it! He asked for more after he finished his small piece, so Adam cut him another little slice. We’re working on table manners with him, so after Adam gave it to him on his plate I asked him “what do you say”, which is his cue to say thank you. Yesterday, however, he ditched his table manners to instead say “yummy!” Adam and I cracked up when he said it, because he was so excited to be eating that cake!

Nolan had a lot of fun “raking” leaves with Adam Saturday morning. Adam actually did all the raking, and Nolan just picked up the leaves and threw them in the air. He was not a fan of actually sitting in a pile of leaves - maybe next year. I’ve been wanting to get some pics of him playing in the leaves, and Adam was able to get a few of them. Next year we’ll hopefully be able to get both boys out there!

Kale is still being a good at home partner, most days. We take a walk almost every day. Last week we met up with Adam at work and took a walk. We were about 1/2 way done and all of a sudden we heard this rustling in the leaves. We turned around and a HUGE buck went sprinting across the path, about 10 feet behind us. Had we been a little further back we probably would have been hit by it. Scary! Kale is really struggling with gassiness, so he had a few tough days last week. We spent Friday evening at Adam’s parent’s house for a fish fry, and let’s just say I was ready to get some help with him by that point! Between Nolan and Kale I feel like Adam and I spend a lot of time discussing the ins and outs of the human digestive system, literally. Nolan just finished an antibiotic for an ear infection, so his poor little bum was looking very similar to that of a baboon at the end of last week. Almost every diaper had a surprise in it, and it wasn’t one we wanted! We’re in the process of switching Kale to a sensitive formula because of his issues. It will be his 4th formula, and hopefully it will do the trick. I almost forgot to mention the most exciting news of all – Kale slept through the night last night for the first time! He went down at 8:30, and didn’t wake up until 4 am (I did a dream feed at 10:30)! He went back down at 4:30 and didn’t wake up until 7:30. Needless to say I feel very well rested now!

Kale and I spend time every day working on tummy time. He does a pretty good job, but despite my best efforts the right side of his head is looking a little flat, and he really prefers to turn his head to the right. Instead of waiting until his 2 month check up we’re going to get ahead of the game and take him to the same chiropractor that we took Nolan to when he was dealing with possible torticollis. It worked with Nolan, so we’re hopeful it will work with Kale, too.

Adam and I are looking forward to a night out this week. We’re going to see Rock of Ages with some friends on Wednesday night. It sure is nice Adam’s mom likes to hang out with the boys. It makes finding a babysitter pretty easy!

Where does the time go?

Adam and I have both now survived a day/evening alone with both boys. The previous blog post talked a little bit about my adventure last Sunday (which ended well, with Nolan going to bed at 6 and Kale around 7:30 - Adam went hunting after the Twin's game). Adam had the boys Thursday so I could meet up with some girlfriend's for dinner. His evening didn't go quite as well - Kale cried off and on for an hour and half (unusual for him), and Nolan for about 1/2 that time. I think we both proved to ourselves that we can do it, though, and that even if one or both of the boys is crying they will eventually stop:)

Nolan has become quite the little helper. He throws away his own diapers, puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, and loves to help get things for Kale - burp rag, nook, blanket, etc. He even likes to help me burp him! Nolan is starting to pay a little bit more attention to Kale, primarly because he's making more noise. He still hasn't really gotten jealous yet, but we're sure that will come in due time. Nolan likes to help get himself dressed and undressed (with help from us), and hit another important milestone - sleeping with a big boy pillow in his bed. He also climbs up the steps to slide and goes down by himself. Yesterday afternoon we were playing outside with Nolan and he was in his playhouse. He got so excited to open the shutters on one of the windows that he actually fell out the window. Luckily he stuck his hands out so he didn't hit his head! It was actually quite funny - he was hanging on the window by his waist, his hands on the ground and his feet off the ground. I was impressed he didn't cry!

Kale is almost a month old already, and just started smiling over the weekend. Where in the world does the time go? He is getting very big, and has certainly filled out, at least in his face! He's still wearing mostly newborn clothes, but we're hopeful he'll fit in to some 0-3 month pants soon! He sleeps a lot, but today he was awake a little more. He doesn't seem to mind tummy time, and just started talking to us quite a bit more. Last night we put him to bed after his bath, around 7. I fed him at 8:30 and 10:30, and he slept until 3, and then off and on until I fed him around 3:50. He fell asleep after that bottle and didn't get up again until 7:30. He's been up pretty much since then, but is relaxing in his bouncy chair. Hopefully he'll nap a few times today. I want to get our daily walk in this morning, and start the planning for Kale's baptism, which is this weekend already!

Adam spent the past weekend at his family's farm, hunting and fishing. I took the boys to my parent's house for the weekend - I wasn't ready to watch them by myself for a whole weekend yet! I'm so thankful for the extra help I got with the boys, Nolan had fun playing with grandma and grandpa, and Kale got all sorts of extra attention. Friday night was tough - I only got about 2 hours of sleep. Nolan didn't feel well and was up about every 2 hours, and I made the mistake of sleeping in the same room as Kale. He is so loud, with his grunting and little whines througout the night. My mom was nice enough (again!) to get up with Kale Saturday night so I could a full nights sleep. And that was on top of the 3 hour nap I got Saturday afternoon when Nolan was down!

This week I'm going to make an extra effort to stick a little closer to home. I overbooked myself last week, and was gone every day for something. Once or twice a week is fine, but every day was too much. As long as the weather continues to hold up I'll take my daily walk with Kale. Thursday evening Nolan has another ECFE class. I'm not sure which one of us is going to take him, but it should be fun - plate making!

The 18 month picture debacle

Nolan had his 18-month pictures yesterday. They did not go well. He was tired and pretty much cried and whined through the whole event. The photographer tried to make us feel better by telling us that it's normal for a kid his age to act this way, but as a parent it was very frustrating. Nolan wouldn't sit on his own, so Adam and I took turns sitting on the ground and Nolan sat on our legs. Of all the pictures the photographer took, only 2 were okay. We were really hoping to get a picture of Kale and Nolan together, but Nolan wouldn't cooperate with that, either, so Kale had his own personal photo session - and he didn't cry and make a fuss - he just slept! I know Nolan isn't feeling well, but it would have been great if he could have pulled out a smile or 2 for us. Maybe we'll look back on this next week and laugh. Probably not, but maybe.

In addition to Nolan's teething and cold/cough, he's also experiencing the joys of hives on a fairly regular basis - which means another trip to the dr. for him on Monday. I probably should have called nurse line sooner, because the guideline is that if a kid has had them more than 3 days in a row he/she needs to be seen by a dr. Oops! It started last Friday at daycare, and since then he's had them 5 different times. Benedryl seems to take care of the issue very quickly, but we can't keep relying on that to solve the problem. Since we don't know if he'll have them or not when we go to the dr., we've taken some pictures to show her. Adam did quite a bit of research on hives last week, and it could be due to a number of things, including food, pollen, too hot or too cold, or pj's too tight. When I heard that last one I felt a little bad, as one night last week we put Nolan in a pair of pj's that were a bit too snug - but we thought we'd get one more use out of them. Sure enough, he woke up with hives the next morning. The top of his dresser looks like a mini pharmacy - Tylenol, Motrin, Oragel, Benedryl, and Lotrimin for the rash on his leg. He's had sensitive skin since he was born, so we shouldn't be surprised. He probably inherited Adam's allergies, too - poor kid!

Kale is still surprising us with how easy going he is. Over the last week he's gotten in to a routine of only getting up once at night, and the last 2 nights it's been 2 and 2:30. I actually feel quite well rested, especially since he'll get up at 5:30 and then sleep with me until around 9! He's still sleeping quite a bit through the day, too, which is allowing me to get quite a bit of stuff done around the house (as long as he's sleeping in his crib and not on me!). I am going to make more of an effort to keep him awake during the day this week, in hopes in will prolong his night time sleeping.

Yesterday afternoon (after Nolan's 3 hour nap!) we spent a few hours in Chan at a birthday party. It was nice to be able to hang out with our friends and let the kids play at the playground. Granted, our kid (Nolan) needs a little more supervision than the older kids, but it was still fun! Kale slept through the whole thing, which gave both Adam and I time to switch off watching Nolan and enjoy some adult conversation! Before the party we had a little fun taking some pictures of Kale in an outfit Nolan wore when he was 3 weeks old, using the same prop (blue bunny). Can you tell the two of them are brothers?

Adam is at the Twin's game today, so it's just me and the boys at home - my first full day with them. So far, so good - Kale and Nolan are both napping in their rooms. I already cleaned up the kitchen after lunch, so I guess that means I get to enjoy the Sunday paper in peace and quite!