I'm a little behind on this post because life has been crazy busy for the past week. But, our little guy turned 16 months on Saturday which means....we are 2 months away from nursery! Whoo hoo! *insert "Hallelujah chorus"*
He loves to close the door to his bedroom. I guess even as a toddler he needs his privacy.
Some of this will sound the same, but a good bit will be different. Here's what he's been up to since last month.
All the words he can say: cup, mama, dada,
baby, ball, chi chi, cookie, up (he pronounces it bup), book, booger (he
pronounces it booga), yeah, key, this,eat. He also attempts to say
scriptures and Jesus
He can sign "more" and "eat."
If something is lost, instead of looking in the trash can we look in the
drawer where the utensils are kept. He's so funny! That's where he likes to
hide his little "stash.
He likes to try and put his shoes on by himself.
The two molars at the top of his mouth have finally popped out.
He loves to play with other kids. If he sees a child, he will go up to him/her and point right at them.
He can go a long time without nursing. Does he like to? Nope. Some nights he'll sleep for a good 4 hours straight. Other nights he'll be up every 20-30 minutes. We're making progress.
We give him a spoon at dinner time now because he likes to use it to try to feed himself.
This kid is so techno-savvy. He does things with my phone and computer
that I don't even know how to do! He also likes to delete pictures off
of my camera.
There's something about the Fall that brings out uckies and yuckies. A few months ago, I made sure that we were stocked up on on kleenex because I knew that someone was bound to catch a cold. Kayson caught a cold alright, but he also got a stomach bug. For almost a week, his diapers were just filled with liquid. Poor baby had diarrhea so bad. He didn't have much of an appetite, except to nurse all day long. After the poops had been hanging around for a while, he all of a sudden started throwing up. We ended up taking him into the dr because I was afraid that he was going to get dehydrated. They gave him a shot for the vomiting and he was on the up and up.
Getting sick and having molars (one of them FINALLY poked through) coming in has messed up our sleep training. How annoying! For TWO days, KJ has woken up at around midnight crying out for someone to get him. We put him in our bed like we have been doing for the past two weeks, but instead of going back to sleep, he just cried....and cried...and CRIED. He literally woke up every 5 minutes crying. I am freakin' exhausted. All of that hard work just went down the drain. Patting him on the back doesn't settle him down. Cuddling, pacifiers, Tylenol, singing, comforting words, cup full of water...nothing. I guess Kayson finally decided that he had had it with the sleep training.
Forget sleep training. My little guy apparently doesn't do well with it. If he's uncomfortable he wants his chi chi. If that's what it's going to take to get some sleep, I might just give in. The reason I started the whole sleep training thing is because I wasn't getting any sleep. Then once we were in a pretty good routine, it just fell apart. If someone asked me right now (as I'm sitting straight up on the couch struggling to keep my eyes open) if it was worth it, I might just say "no." I just want to crawl back into bed and go to sleep.
Being pregnant was great! I got to feel little flutters that blossomed into full fledged kicks and punches. I never felt cold or alone. I got to hear a beautiful heartbeat each time I went into the doctor's office. Another bonus--I didn't have to worry about going out and buying sticks of dynamite every month. Since Kayson wasn't sleeping through the night and still nursed often, it was kept at bay for a total of 24 months. Two whole years (if you don't count the postpartum days) of cramp-free bliss.
One week ago, when Kayson slept through the night, I knew that I was in for it. On Saturday, this hormonal beast came out of nowhere. If Andrew looked at me, I became offended. If he said "hi," I heard "It is my goal to do my best to annoy the heck out of you." I felt so bad for him! I knew that I shouldn't be getting so upset and I tried to control my tongue. If something slipped, I apologized.
On Thursday morning, I noticed that my face was breaking out. Another sure sign. After 24 peaceful months, my body is definitely making up for lost time. I miss the simpler days. Maybe it's time for baby #2. haha.
November 3 (Night 6)
After talking with some of the ladies at church, they helped me see the light. I'm not going to give up on this whole night weaning thing. We've made it 6 days so we might as well keep moving forward. And they had valid points. If I quit and decide to try again later it might not work as well. Kayson may realize that eventually I'll give in.
Night 6 wasn't anywhere near as hard as night 5. There were times when KJ would wake up but before I knew it he was asleep again. Could things be changing? I sure hope so. Dr. Gordon says "By the end of the ninth night, he will be falling back to sleep, albeit reluctantly for some babies and toddlers, with only a rub and a soothing voice." I'm stuck on that "will" part.
November 5 (Night 8)
Last night wasn't too bad, I guess. He did wake up a lot. He would wake and say, "chi chi." I would always respond with "do you want your cup?" More often that not, he would take it. Sometimes, though, he would get really mad at me for offering him something he simply did not want.
November 17
Kayson goes to bed at around 8pm and wakes up after getting about 8 hours of sleep. It has been awesome! We usually bring him into bed with us, where I nurse him and he falls back asleep for another 2 hours. I love it! This weaning adventure has been so hard, but it's been worth it because we are all much happier after getting some valuable rest.
That's the best description for how I feel right now. The week has been long, but it seems as though it has zoomed by. Most days, if you walked into our home, you'd think you had walked into a fog. I don't know if it was something we ate or what. There were times when the smell was so bad, I just had to run away from it. Kayson has had the worst of it. Oh man, that kid could have woken the dead all by himself. Who needs a whoopee cushion when you've got the silent and deadly gag? Man.
How we started out the week:
Kayson woke up from napping in his crib and ended up falling asleep on Andrew. Originally he was on Andrew's shoulder; but, he gradually slid down. I have no idea how that little guy managed to sleep like that.
On Tuesday, my visiting teaching companion called and asked if I could watch her little boy because she had recently had her baby. Of course, I was super willing. That whole night I kept thinking about it and it made me feel really nervous. I have never watched two toddlers at once. I did babysit two infants once. The little girl was only a few weeks old, I think, and the other baby was around 6 or 7 months. And I was about 6 months pregnant at the time. Wow, fun times. Anyway, I was prepared for my house to look like a tornado came through.
Things actually weren't too bad. K (the little boy who I watched) and Kayson were great together! My mil came over at around 8:30 to have another couponing adventure with me. I planned on taking the tots with me when I took Andrew to work, but Andrew volunteered his mom to watch them for me. Oops. As soon as I walked out the door and turned the corner, I heard bawling. It sounded like Kayson, but I couldn't be sure. I kept walking back and forth between the car and the front door because I was so torn! I felt like I was abandoning my mil or something. It turned out that it was K who was crying. After I heard him calming down, I booked it to the car. I don't know how many laws I broke trying to get Andrew to work. Poor Andrew was holding on tight. Well, he was the one who was worried about being late...
When I got home, Ma told me that Kayson was trying to help K feel better. They played so well together. They were sharing more than they were taking the toys away from each other. I loved it! I was almost (**ALMOST**) convinced to have another child.
Ma and I went shopping with the kiddos, which turned out to be pretty fun. I was all set with books, toys, and snacks. About 75% of the way through the trip, they both fell asleep. I didn't even think to bring in pillows and blankets. lol!
K's head was drooping the most so I took him out and held him. Wow, I'll tell ya, after holding that boy for 1/2 hour in the store, my arms are pretty ripped. My shoulders are STILL sore and it's three days later. Once we got home and they had some lunch, they went to sleep and slept for like 3 hours. We went over to a friend's house for an hour and then K's dad picked him up. I slept really well that night!
The next day, KJ had horrible diarrhea. By Thursday, he was vomiting. I just felt so helpless as a mom because I would reach out to comfort him and he would start crying. He was so torn between being held and just being left alone. Yesterday, we took him to the doctor where they gave him a shot for the vomiting and diagnosed him with a stomach bug. After a day of cuddling on the couch and watching movies and being given a priesthood blessing by his dad and grandpa, he's doing a lot better! Having a sick baby is tough stuff and I feel like I don't know what I'm doing a lot of the time. Being a mother is a growing experience. I'm not perfect by any means, but I know that Kayson loves me for simply being there.
It's been years since I've been to the fair so we decided to this weekend when admission was $2 before 2pm. And the marvelous thing about having a toddler/baby--they get in for FREE. When we first walked in, they had this butterfly display. You could go in and feed a butterfly. The line was long and the longer we waited the more nervous I became.
Background: As a child, I was always outside. I was that girl who didn't like to wear skirts/dresses too much, climbed trees, collected ants in jars, rode scooters...and all the fun tomboy stuff. I had no problem getting dirty. I loved all kinds of insects (except for roaches, no one could pay me to play with those things). Somewhere along the way, I developed a phobia of insects. Roly polies, caterpillars, and all the critters that were once my playmates made me a scaredy-cat. I think I probably developed this fear because my aunt told this horror story about how a roach crawled into her ear and she had to use a bobby pin to get it out. Ever since then I stay the heck away from bugs. Nothing is about to crawl up into my ear and get into my brain and...you get the picture.
Anyway, we finally get to the front of the line and the lady explains how the butterflies may land on us and we're not supposed to touch its wings because they are very fragile. I decided to hold Kayson and let Andrew attempt to get the butterflies to climb onto and feed from the q-tip dipped in nectar. We walked into the room and there were butterflies everywhere! They're really pretty and all, but these things used to be caterpillars. Once a caterpillar, always a caterpillar. I was so afraid that one of those things was going to burrow into my fro, and I'd reach to scratch my scalp and feel something that shouldn't be there. Gosh!
For some reason, they were fascinated with Andrew's pants.
After being there for about 10 minutes, my fear came true. A butterfly landed on me. I was so tense, I thought that my teeth were going to crack. Andrew was all excited because he had been trying to catch a butterfly, but they didn't want to get onto his q-tip. I gladly let him take the one from my shoulders.
One also landed on him.
Check out that colorful hat. I crocheted that!
The butterfly slowly crawled up Andrew's neck and he had another one on the q-tip in his hand.
He said that I was actually freaking him out a little bit since I was so scared.
I love this pic!
After a few more butterflies trying to land on me and me doing some karate moves trying to get out of the way, we moved on to other things at the fair.
They had this cool area for toddlers. Kayson had a ton of fun with all of the blocks. He even had a little boy following him around.
We didn't get on any rides because they were dang expensive. I never noticed before that the fair cost so much. But then again, as a child and teenager, I didn't have many worries regarding money. I just knew that the fair was fun.
My favorite part of the fair this year: The turkey legs (which cost $10.75!) that filled up mine, Andrew's and KJ's tummies. Oh, and I got to try fried pickles for the first time. Oh my gosh! They are so delicious with ranch dressing. I need to find a recipe!
Last year when KJ was still a wee little baby, I found this costume on sale for less than $5! It's because it was after Halloween and they were trying to get rid of it. I decided to get it just in case we needed a last minute costume. It's a size 18 month (or maybe it's 12 months?) and it was a tad bit short for KJ. I seriously have a tall toddler. Initially, he wasn't too pleased with it, but he didn't put up that much of a fight. And he looked so darn adorable!
My in-laws came over the Friday before to babysit KJ while Andrew and I went out on a much needed date. I had Ma create a little sign for our car for Trunk-or-Treat. It was out first time decorating our car for trunk-or-treat and it was pretty fun! Andrew and I came up with a "Build A Cupcake Workshop." I spent 2-3 hours Saturday morning making mini cupcakes. I did some fudge chocolate cupcakes and the rest were french vanilla (but I had dyed batches of the frosting orange, blue, and purple). We even had colored frosting, sprinkles, candy corn, spider rings, m&ms, and twizzlers for the kids to decorate their cupcakes with. It was a lot of work but so worth it!
The reason why there is white stuff (flour) all over mine and Andrew's face is because we were Bakers. I essentially looked like this when I was working my tail off making all those cupcakes that morning.
On Halloween, we met up with a huge group of friends (There were at least 10 children) and we took our kiddos trick-or-treating. Of course Kayson didn't know what Halloween is all about, but he did know that there was something going on and he was super excited about it. I think that Halloween should be fun for the kiddos and the adults. There's something about the holidays that make me so happy! People seem to be kinder to one another (except for on Black Friday). Even better--Andrew and I still got a bucket candy this year! (Okay okay, so it's actually Kayson's bucket of candy, but he's a sweetheart. He loves to share with the people who love him most!)
Oh, and after trick-or-treating, a few of us went over to Chipotle where they had burritos for $2! We had to stand in line for a bit, but boy was it worth it! You bet it was.
