7 to 8 Months: Busy Babies No Time to Sleep

May 12, 2014

Oh Babies!

These past few weeks have felt very busy! You are growing and learning so much everyday even I have a hard time keeping up. And best of all... Spring is here! Ok, yes it did snow the first week of May but once that heavy layer melted it definitely has felt more spring-ish. Both Mommy and Daddy are really looking forward to spending the summer with you guys.

We kick started it with Easter, as usual. I can't wait for the days when you guys get excited about such holidays. It's going to be awesome! In honor of your first Easter, and much to Daddy's horror, we took a fun bunny photo shoot... Which we had to repeat because Evan did not like being surrounded by all the fun eggs. You guys made the cutest bunnies and by the second photo shoot both of you were having a ball playing with the eggs. Anything new to chew on is a-ok in your books. We spent Easter Sunday here with Uncle Dave and Auntie Lindsay (Nana and Grandpa were in France) and had a small buffalo roast. You guys also made a trip to see Grams and Grandpa up north, your first birthday party (Soleil and Sensa), your first visit with Camila (who you guys kind of freaked out
 because Alice wanted to play with her dress and Evan her hair), and brunch for Nana's birthday at Uncle Dave's (uncle kind of freaks Evan out). Some other fun first... Finally understanding how to play the piano and Alice is a natural. Evan is a percussionist and likes rattles, shakers, and the bongos. Your first WHOLE day with just Daddy as Mommy went to work at the garden show. Graduated to a basin in the big bath tub! The sink was getting small and Alice kept spraying water everywhere. Graduated to the big stroller seats! Good for walks on the ridge and to the zoo. Now sporting new beautiful Nana-made spring sweaters as well! Also you guys are wearing more real clothes, maybe not everyday, but a lot of days now. That one was a big step for mom. AND you survived a measles outbreak and were superstars for the extra vaccine. 

THE FOOD SITUATION: So, Mommy finally decided to stop being anal about recording ALL your activities and we are now app free. It was super helpful in its time, but for everything there is a season. Now is the time to stop being anal! Besides we have finished with the breast feeding (your guys choice and dwindling supply) and solids are much easier to keep track of. We try to get in three meals of solids a day and sporadic bottles. For the most part you guys are ok eaters. Alice is usually pretty eager as long as your patience lasts the whole meal. Evan is not as adventurous with change and usually less enthusiastic, but still has been ok most days. Your favorites right now are yams, pears, and bananas. You guys have also started practicing to chew. After being kind of freaked out by some baby led weaning episodes we have decided that toast is the best practice food and you guys love toast time and can manage it quite well. You just got to eat a little more Evan guy because your sister outweighed you this month. Even so, Your growth percentiles have increased and the Dr was very pleased.

THE SLEEP SITUATION: Oh Evan, my son, you have been a bit of a challenge this month and have made Mommy change up the sleep plan. Yes, you were right that it was about time to make bedtimes earlier but that doesn't mean you have to keep getting up earlier and earlier. Maybe it`s teething, or growth spurts, or wonder weeks, or separation anxiety but you have been sporadically waking up in tears around 3am to 4am. It`s not every night and sometimes it`s for food and sometimes for a snuggle so it`s been a little hard to rectify. After much reading we started to shift to earlier bedtimes from 9:30pm to more like 7:30pm. We got a really great bedtime routine happening of solid dinner, bath time, bottle, snuggle and bed. This worked so well you guys usually went to sleep within the first 20 minutes. However, it didn't change your wake up times any. We tried a night of cry it out... but my resolve was weak and it didn't work very well. My thought now is that it`s just a phase and I am hoping you will eventually grow out of it. Alice hopes so too. She`s a fantastic sleeper and can fall back to sleep pretty easily when you decide everyone should wake up. Providing that you actually go back to sleep yourself. If Mommy can`t get you back to sleep by 4:30 we just get up and start the day. Ah early mornings make for long days. Luckily, I am on maternity leave and have spent many daytime hours napping in the reclining chair while I bounce you into nap time in your favorite bouncy chairs. I am now a pro at sleeping while sitting up.

THE HEAD SITUATION: Oh yeah! And after two months of waiting to see the specialist we finally got in for a head shape appointment. Evan barely qualifies but since it is covered by insurance we will get you a helmet and make you a better rounded kid! Thanks to Alice sleeping on her side, sitting up a lot, and doing tummy time so early she worked out her head issues on her own. You were just a couple months shy little buddy and have only now decided to start sleeping on your stomach. Oh well, we will get measured in another months time and fix things that way instead.

EVAN... Other than the sleep issues and your reluctance to try Mommy`s awesome food experiments you are a wonderful little baby. You are so happy during the day and love to smile and laugh. The conversations you have with your toys are priceless and you have started babbling Ms, Bs, and some Ds. My favorite sound is when you say 'mymum.' It always brings a big smile to my face. You have gotten much better at sitting, and with less bruises too. You are obsessed with rolling over and use this as a way of getting around. Daddy's been calling you Rolly Napoleon these days. You also like to go crazy by trying to jump your jumperoo apart and flipping out in your crib after a diaper change. Sometimes you are a very crazy baby! But you also have your serene mellow side where you like to watch the leaves blowing on the trees, or you fall asleep on our walks, or you lounge like a boss in your highchair. Your favorite games are still peekaboo and being surprised, and also 'drop the baby,' 'tickle tickle tickle,' and flying from floor to ceiling. You are amazing at growing teeth! Your top four incisors pushed there way out this month. It was long and painful compared to the bottom two and you needed a few days of extra cuddles and Tylenol to get through, but they are almost all out now and you have quite the toothy grin. We love doing anything that will cox that smile out of you, my happy little boy.

 ALICE... My clever, silly girl. You love to do things that make us laugh, like making funny faces at dinner and scrunching your nose and snuffing intently. I think you do this more for our amusement than anything else. You are always looking for something new to explore and so eagerly curious. Everything new pretty much goes straight to your mouth without too much thought. You like almost any toy your brother is looking at as well as the foam letters that make up the play mat. Everyday you pull the mat apart and Mommy puts it back together; Wreck It Ralph and Fix It Felix. I think you may be thinking about crawling as you have started to bounce on your bum but sometimes you can just scoot to where you want to go and that's usually satisfying for now. Besides, if you can't reach it you just kick at it. You like stomping your legs on all different types of things to see what new sounds you can make. You still like to talk up a storm, like yelling yaya loudly in the Walmart. Bath times in the basin with your brother is your favorite time of day, where you get to splash at Evan and drink from the squirty boats. Favorite games are 'shakin baby,' daddy kisses, being upside down, playing the piano, and trying to undo your diaper when Mommy`s not looking. Even though there's no sign of upper teeth yet your hair is growing like crazy. It has turned very blonde and is so soft and lovely. Even you appreciate it and like to stroke it when you have a sleepy time bottle. You are so very precious.

I give you guys 2 more months before you are on the move but I know it`s coming and both look forward to and dread the day. More changes ahead my dears. Exciting things always on the horizon.

Weights: Evan 16.3lbs Alice 16.4lbs

6 to 7 Months: Baby Steps to Big Changes

April 12, 2014

Dear Babies

Oh my gosh! You guys have teeth! After so many months of gummy smiles it seems like a very strange concept. Actually, teeth included, this has been a very big month for you guys! All your exciting changes are just in time for spring. Unfortunately, true to Calgary, it does not feel like spring but it will come eventually. Ignore the snow storms in the meaning time... More snowfall today. Everything is brown and mucky without the snow anyway. At least the huge snow banks are gone so we can go for easier walks. We found out that the Sobeys is only 20 minutes away and this makes grocery shopping a little more fun and manageable instead of trying to load you two into the car and then juggle a stroller and a cart.

We also took our first trip to the zoo and that was a super fun outing. We walked around and saw the animals that were out, though I think if anything caught your guys attention it was the fish tank in the gorilla house. Half way through the outing Evan passed out in the stroller and missed saying goodbye to the elephants (as they are moving to a new zoo) and exploring the butterfly house, where Alice enjoyed looking at all the green. This is a new color for you guys as you arrived in fall and have suffered this very snowy winter. I am excited for you to see more green. And now we have an active zoo pass so we can go lots! Best shower present ever!

Ok, let me see if I can cover all the new things you guys did!

 EVAN... On March 17th you surprised everybody by popping out your first two bottom teeth. I honestly did not expect them to come in so suddenly; we couldn't really tell that you were even teething. I was putting you to bed and was shocked when I felt this sharp, hard nub in you mouth. It was very exciting! You have also started to experiment more with sounds and right now you mostly are enjoying spitting/farting noises, much to your Dad's amusement. You often do this as you play in your jumperoo or are on the change table. And perhaps you have finally grown tired of your Slug-O nickname as you started to do more sit ups while you are reclining in your bouncer, you became very proficient at getting off of your tummy, and finally, the day before you turned 7 months old, you figured out how to roll on to your tummy! It was the most exciting thing and I was so so proud of you!! I think you

knew it too and seemed very pleased with yourself. There has also been some assisted sitting and now you can tripod sit quite well as long as you stay focused and don't try to pick any toys up. Mostly you like to play with your crinkle book or a good teething ring, but your favorite thing is a snuggly blanket... Any blanket will do. You love to hug and suck on them, any time really, you even pull up your play mats and quilts. You have even learned how to play peek-a-boo by covering your eyes with a blanket by yourself. You think this is great fun and also enjoy it when we just look away and then back at you with a 'boo.' You are easily startled but really seem to enjoy the surprise. You have decided Mommy's boobs are no longer satisfactory and will only breast feed in the morning and just before bed, and sometimes not even then. You prefer bottles and love eating solids. Banana and yam flavors are your favorites so we hide greens in them. Sneaky Mommy win!
 

 

ALICE... You love to sit up! Rolling over and laying down is so yesterday. I am slowly beginning to be less nervous about you falling over, and two bruises later you seem to have mastered balancing. Even when in your bouncy chair you want to sit, making strapping you in very necessary (one bruise was from tumbling forward in this chair) even though you can still fold yourself over to play with the legs of the chair while tied down. You are super flexible and like folding yourself in half this way to play with your toes. Meal times are even more fun when toes are involved. I mostly still feed you guys in your bouncy chairs because the incline keeps most of the food going in your mouth but we are slowly doing more meals at the table. Dinner time with daddy is pretty fun. We just increase to three meals a day and so far you guys are still pretty eager for the solids. Alice, you will taste anything and everything. I don't think there's a flavor you don't like. You really enjoy handling your own food but since this is counter productive to consuming food we are trying to get you use to letting us handle your spoon. You are so quick and strong at grabbing things and then we have to wrestle the spoon from your hands. It's still a rather messy business, but we are getting better and don't always need a bath after every meal.
That's good because it was a lot of baths! We still get to use the sink but you love to play with the faucet and have even sprayed Mommy a couple times, much to your delight. The big bath is coming your way soon! Now that you have such good balance you are getting better at reaching for the things you want... Which is either what your brother has at the time, or your crinkle book or plastic keys. You love exploring new toys and like to sit in your high chair watching the making of dinner or your baby food while you get to play with fun kitchen things like whisks and measuring spoons. Sometimes you even get to chew on an apple, yam, or broccoli stick. That's the best! Your favorite sounds this month are Ds for dadada (Daddy loves this), humming, and wrinkling your nose while snuffing and pursing your lips to show displeasure. It's really hard to take you seriously when your angry face is so cute! You also are not keen on breastfeeding during the day, but you still occasionally do it. Oh yeah, and on April 4th you got your two bottom teeth! Also, you finally figured out how to consistently get off your tummy. Got to keep up with your brother, right?

THE FOOD SITUATION: Mommy's milk supply is dwindling these days... Use it or lose it I guess. It is bittersweet because I really did enjoying feeding you guys. It was a nice time to sit and relax and it made you guys so happy (most of the time). However, I will not deny that is was stressful when you guys didn't want to feed and I was always worrying about whether you were consuming enough or if I was making enough, and the in between times of engorgement or leaking was a real pain. So for good or bad, all that business is coming to an end.

I'm such a creature of habit and the shift from breastfeeding to solids has really made me see that motherhood is going to stretch my adaptability to change. It seems every month we lose something, like putting away tiny baby sleepers, only to gain the next step, trying all different flavors of food. And although I will miss each month that we leave behind I am so excited for all the things ahead. Soon there will be crawling... Haven't baby proofed yet but at least I installed the cat door!

Weights: Evan 15.3lbs Alice 15.3lbs