10/11/13

22 Months Old

Last week my Little Bear turned 22 months old.  In only 2 short months he'll be 2 years old.  He is growing so big and learning so much all the time.  The main thing he is learning right now is how to be a good big brother.  He is getting better and better at this.  However, he still hits Little Cub's head with his hands or a book, and even sometimes a foot or toy.  He grabs her head or scratches it.  All these things make Little Cub cry horribly of course.  After making sure Little Cub is OK, I then have to discipline Little Bear.  The times he acts out are when he is super upset about something, or he is jealous of me holding/feeding her.  The times he does this are getting less and less.  Most of the time he kisses her head and pats her very lovingly.  He likes to help me burp her which is so cute.  His favorite things to play with are his trains and trucks.  He still loves to be outside as much as possible and swing.  His vocabulary continues to explode.  One of the biggest things we've done this past month is wean him of his "BB", aka: binky.  He would have it all day long if we let him.  Well, under the advisement of CC, we started having him give it to us as soon as he got out of his crib.  The first few days were rough.  But, it didn't take long for him to not fuss about it.  He's totally fine without it during the day.  However, every once in a while he'll ask for it.  I remind him that it's in his room and he'll get it when he goes "night, night."  Now, he actually hands me his BB when I get him in the morning or after nap even before he gets out of bed.  What a big boy.  He's started climbing out of his crib sometimes and I'm wondering when I turn the crib into the toddler bed.  I'm going to put it off as long as possible.

I totally love his expression

Such a big boy





Being a very loving brother

Little Cub looks like such a tiny doll next to Little Bear

Entertaining Little Cub during her tummy time

Sweet Moments


10/1/13

Newborn to 1 Month Old

I still feel like this little girl just came into our lives the other day and already a month has past.  It seems like it's gone by faster this time.  That's probably because I'm chasing after a toddler and still trying to get settled in our new house.  Little Cub seemed so tiny when she was born and she has really grown.  She's really plumped up, so I must be feeding her some good milk.  She's doing well breastfeeding and at times, wants to feed all the time.  She's pretty laid back for the most part and hardly cries.  Really the only times she cries are when I haven't paid enough attention to her cues and she's super hungry.  The last few days she's been a bit more fussy and I think her stomach is bothering her from the medicine she takes for thrush.  We have only a few more days left of that, so hopefully she'll be feeling better.  She has had a snotty nose the last couple of weeks to the point where I've had to get up a few times a night to suck the snot out.  She's a noisy sleeper from about 2am-7am.  She's getting better at sleeping at night.  She sleeps for about 4 hours, feeds, then sleeps 3 hours, feeds, then sleeps 2 hours, feeds, then sleeps an hour, feeds and then goes to sleep from 7am to at least 8:30.  Her sleep patterns in the morning have allowed me to have some quality time with Little Bear which I'm very thankful for.  I'm doing my best to focus on him when she's sleeping so he gets the attention he needs.  Little Cub is starting to smile more and purposefully.  She likes to be held up against my shoulder and has even started liking laying on the ground and "exercising."
It has been very challenging adjusting to parenting 2 kids.  I'm so glad I have a husband that is helpful.  He's now taken over putting Little Bear to bed at night and down for naps on the weekends.  Those times I usually occupied feeding Little Cub.  There have been a few times where Papa Bear is gone in the evenings and I've had to put both to bed.  I get Little Bear down all the while Little Cub is screaming.  I do my best to ignore her cries because I know her needs have been met.  That way I'm fully focusing on Little Bear.  Thankfully, Little Bear goes down at night fairly easily.  I still feel bad that she's often crying during that time, but there's nothing more I can do about it.  Little Cub tends to fall asleep for the night around 9-9:30.  So, that's usually when I go to bed too.  I think there's much more I can say about the changes in our lives so far, but this will have to do.  The kids are both sleeping and I could use a nap for sure!!!
All dressed up to go home from the hospital


All ready to go home.  I wish Little Bear was in the picture

She looks so incredibly tiny - Little Cub that is.  I have a long ways to go

Proud Papa Bear

Little Bear trying to give Little Cub his pacifier

Checking out Little Cub's teddy bear

Proud brother

1 month old.  Can you see how much she's grown?


Kissing his little sister

21 Months Old

So, I've had this post partially done for almost a month.  I'm definitely way far behind on keeping up with the kiddos happenings on this blog.  I just can't seem to find/make the time to update the blog.  Oh well. 
Little Bear turned 21 months old a month ago.  Just a few days prior to then, he was playing a game in our living room.  He had a big blanket over his head and was turning in circles.  He crashed into our stone fireplace just as Papa Bear was reaching for him.  His nose met the stone and Little Bear let our some fierce wales.  Poor guy!  From where I was, it looked like he had hit his eye.  That freaked me out and I thought we were headed to the ER again.  Luckily, he just scraped his nose.  However, he did hit it hard enough that it cause a black nose/eye.  You can kinda see the bruise in these pictures.
He is definitely growing up.  He repeats almost everything we say.  He still loves to be outside and pitches a fit when it's time to come in.  He's pestering his sister some, to the point where I've really had to discipline him.  It's been challenging to enforce some rules, but hopefully he'll learn quickly.  I love this boy so much.