Georgie Summer 2014

Georgie is in that phase where he is constantly asking "why mommy?" About everything! So so cute and at times, a little annoying. :-) Everything is "but why?" Also, we probably say "gentle, be gentle Georgie" about 30 times every single day, in regards to him touching Greta. He does love her, and he's definitely over the initial jealousy thing, but he can just be fairly aggressive in showing his love for her. He just gets so excited and sometimes intense – he'll do that with us sometimes too. He'll clench his teeth. He's doing gymnastics right now, and really loves it. He gets really excited to go every Friday. He's getting to be quite a leader in his class, and probably needs to move up to the next class, which means no parent involvement. He's also in swimming lessons again, but this time the class is with no parents. So George or I just sit on the edge of the pool and watch him and cheer him on, and he does fairly well. He definitely doesn't love it, and will cry sometimes, but you can tell he tries to be tough and shakes it off really well. He is just not a huge fan of the water, and still gets terrified of putting his face under the water. Bathtime has been a little better now that he has discovered that he can lay on his back, like a back float, to get his hair wet so that we don't have to let it with a cup pouring it over his head. He still just really hates the rinsing part, and if he gets soap in his eyes he gets so upset, even though it is tear free. I think he just doesn't like the foam in his eyes. He loves his sandbox, and plays in it when it's cool enough outside, usually the morning time. He also likes the splash pad and just the little pool in our backyard and Grammys backyard and titis backyard. He likes running to the sprinklers and the small backyard pool. He really loves his hot wheels cars, and we have officially stopped giving them to him every time he poops, because it's so normal now. I told him that I will just try to buy him a hot wheels car every time we go to Walmart. He also just got some scissors for kids, and loves cutting up paper. He loves playing pretend, inspired by this book that we have called pretend, where we sit on the couch or the porch swing and act like we are in a boat and there are sharks around us. He thinks it is so hilarious and shouts out shark! And loves it when I get scared and pull my feet up. It's so cute! I've tried to encourage him to play other pretend games like hot air balloon, or Safari, or camper, but he is just obsessed with the boat and check thing. So cute! He pretty much loves going to Grammies house all the time, and likes going to grammar and Popoli's house too. He's probably going to do his first sleepover there pretty soon. Him and Leoney get along really relatively pretty well. He's definitely coming around to her more, and I think he really loves her and considers her kind of his partner in crime. They still get to each other occasionally well, actually fairly often, but nothing like how bad it was when Gretta was first born and Leonie started walking, all at the same time. It is a little sad sometimes because I can tell he is trying to be so big and brave, and really processing that he is not the only grandchild anymore, and my mom makes time for, and attention towards, Leoney too. Him and my mom have such a special bond, and he gets sad and sometimes jealous and ask out occasionally, though I can tell that he is really processing and trying to have self-control.


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Greta is getting better and better at calling! Once she figured it out, she has been progressing quickly. She still does a crab crawl but then will usually go to both knees or alternate between the two. It's so fun, although I am finding myself really having to start baby proofing more and I can't just leave her in a room alone anymore since she is mobile. Also, I have to make sure to vacuum more often, and make sure there is nothing that she can put in her mouth and choke on. She is totally at that age where she is trying to put absolutely everything in her mouth, and doesn't know that it's not food. So cute! Also, when we read books – she will often times touch them and feel them on the pages because he started out reading her a lot of touch and feel books. So even if it's not a touch and feel book, she'll reach out and touch the pages thinking that there should be some sort of texture on them. So cute! For a long time before bedtime we read the going to bed book by Sandra Boynton, but now I have started to read Chicka Chicka boom boom and good night Moon a lot more, like we did with Georgie. I'm hoping this will instill in her an interest in letters and learning the alphabet song. She's just getting so much more fun! I am working on starting to plan her first birthday.


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Location:More Crawling, Touching Books, Nighttime Books

Almost Crawling! Pulling Up! Sitting Up after Sleep, Separation Anxiety

So a lot has seems to happen in the last few days – probably week and a half to two weeks. Credit is almost crab crawling, and is suddenly progressing very quickly finally! She just pretty much did it for the first time just now in front of me. It's so exciting because I can tell she's just frustrated because she wants to be mobile. She is 11 months and one week approximately. Also, last week she learned to sit up after her nap and then after sleeping at night also. She has a newfound freedom! It's so cute! She literally went from sleeping on her back only, probably feeling pretty trapped, to being all over her crib now and usually sleeping on her stomach, sometimes with her niece up underneath her. The other day we actually found her sleeping like she had fallen asleep sitting up and her face was had planted into her niece – it was a little scary but hilarious! She is always setting up and reaches up for me when I get her in the morning now – so so so cute! We haven't moved her crib down yet because she hasn't really been able to pull herself up to a standing position, nor had any desire to, until the last few days, when she is suddenly starting to try to kill herself up on everything. Like I said, it's been progressing pretty rapidly. So who knows, maybe she will be one of those babies that doesn't call for very long before she walks. Also, she doesn't really like to be rocked before bedtime for naps anymore, very recently as well. It's like now that she knows how to set up by herself, she doesn't want to be on her back for me to rock her. In some ways it's been pretty nice because I've been not rocking her for as long before I lay her down in her bed, because she just squirms anyway. But on the other hand, I kind of miss rocking her and it makes me a little sad. So different then Georgie was! Georgie pretty much always loved being rocked, even when he was quite old, even though he was in a particularly touchy-feely baby. Also, Greta has been starting to get some separation anxiety for the first time. I was a little worried because she didn't really have it up to this point, but now she really likes to have me in her site, especially if she's not feeling good. She is just getting so fun, and I can see in her eyes that she is starting to understand a lot more of what we are saying. I am so thankful that she is getting to be more responsive and starting to develop a little bit of a personality. I think she is actually a little bit spunky, even though she is been a very laid-back easy baby other than all her health issues. I think she may be the baby that tries to get out of her crib. And despite not officially calling it, she actually gets around really well, bye just trial and error and slowly scooting herself, especially on the tile floor, she will get from point a to point B really pretty quickly.


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Gretta Sitting in Crib, Almost Crawling!

Just put Greta down for a nap if you minutes ago, and she was talking for a little while and I looked on the monitor and she was sitting up playing with her pillow! This is the first time she has set up by herself in the crib. Up to this point she has been sleeping just on her back, the last night I noticed in the pack and play that she was laying on her side. So cute, and so exciting. Guess we'll have to start thinking about lowering the crib, although she isn't pulling herself up to a standing position yet, so we may be able to wait a little while. She's getting closer and closer to crawling, though still not there yet. She's quite mobile for not calling though, and she will stay on her belly for long periods of time moving around in circles, and if she's sitting up she can scoop herself backwards and forwards fairly far, especially if she is on the tile. So hoping that she'll be crawling by her first birthday! I think she will be happier when she is more mobile.


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Georgie Poo!!!

Before I forget, Georgie went to in the potty I think about two weeks ago, and has never turned back. He has not had one single accident and his pole! And two days ago I actually let him start wearing undies instead of his pull-ups, making him promise me that he would keep them dry all day. Yesterday he did! It is just hard when we go out in public, but he has actually gone on the big big potty A couple times now, and went through in our big potty yesterday. He is so proud and we do the boo-boo dance raise the roof! He is so adorable and proud of himself that I just can't stand it. I am so so so happy that we waited and didn't push it sooner as we have not had nearly the issues that some people have when they do it too soon.


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More teeth!

Gretta got her second tooth on, I think it was May 31. So she is about 9 3/4 months. She got the bottom right-hand too. Meaning, it broke through, neither of them have come completely up all the way but they are both broken through. Yay!!!


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Nursing/Milk Supply/Nap and Nighttime Routine

We are in a good routine now of Greta and Georgie waking up around 630 in the morning, which is really early, but we try to push it later and we just can't seem to make them sleep later. And since they're in the same room now, when one gets up, pretty much the other one wakes up to. But got a nurses first thing in the morning, then she goes down for her first nap around two hours after she wakes up usually give or take. Then after that nap she eats by nursing, then I feed her solids, then I usually wait a little while and change her diaper. Then she goes down for her second nap around 2 1/2 hours after that nap ends. She usually naps for around an hour and 15 minutes, give or take. That is, for her morning as well as her mid day nap. Then she eats again after that nap nursing, then solids, wait a little while and change her diaper. Then she usually goes down for her last nap around three hours after that second nap. It usually falls somewhere between 430 and 530 – when she goes down. That nap is usually only half an hour and sustains her until a fairly late bedtime for her age. But we have to continue the three naps for now, if we want to keep putting them to bed around the same time. We usually end up putting them down sometime between 745 and 830. It doesn't always work out, and sometimes we have to put Georgie down first and wait till he falls asleep and then put her down and very occasionally, sometimes The opposite. It's probably not an early enough bedtime for her, and she should probably only be doing two naps at this point, but it works for our family. As far as my milk supply, it has definitely continued to slow, but sustain her okay for now. I decided to get on the domperidone again (I was on it a couple months ago too - it's only a two week supply), to try to build up my supply and possibly pump and stores time. But I haven't really been able to pump much more than she needs, so we'll see how it goes when I stop. I also just started my period for the first time, and that can impact milk supply drastically, so I'm glad that I am on the domperidone right now. An interesting and ironic thing is that I started the Arbonne 20 day cleanse on May 19 and just about four days later I started my first period, and about a week and a half later I got my first cold of the season. I still have it and it is a decent one – meaning I'm usually able to kick it but I haven't really been able to kick this one. Anyway, our routine right now is; George gets Georgie changed into his pajamas and greets to him while I get Greta changed into her jammies or just change her diaper, and nursed her one last time, as well as give her a 2 to 2 1/2 ounce bottle, after I nurse her, but in the last few days I have discontinued giving her the bottle, and she's still sleeping through the night. The reason I have not discontinued giving her the bottle was because I thought that was sustaining her, but once we really trained her to sleep the night, she's been okay without it. I just make sure I give her lots of solids for dinner. Oh yeah – we do the same routine after her last nap - I nursed her, usually, and then we eat dinner together and I give her her dinner solid thing. It's usually not too long after that that we start the timer Tina Niners her again, with what little I still have. For a couple months I really was freaking out about my low milk supply, but she is getting old enough now and eating more and more solids to where it is not as big of a deal but I don't produce very much. I think ideally she should probably be getting more breast milk/formula, but hope you're doing seems to be working and we haven't had to spend the money on formula which is been nice. I do still have a few more bags of pumped milk stored in the freezer that does not contain Gary, from the first time I took domperidone. I am really just trying to hang on until she turns one, and then we can supplement her with an alternative milk (possibly not cow's if she does have a milk intolerance). Him not totally opposed to supplementing her with the Dairy Free formula right now, except that I do sometimes feel like she really kind of starts preferring the bottle over the breast, when I'm giving her more bottles. And I don't want her to wean herself entirely from nursing, because I still have at least something to offer her. Plus, breastmilk is always better than formula no matter what, and they do have some, so we figure it's almost a wash between buying formula and buying the $68 domperidone every two weeks, or maybe just once to month, because I think I can float it for two weeks out of the month without the domperidone.

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