Do As I Say and Not as I Do...or Did

If you send your husband and toddler out to pick up restaurant take out, make sure you call the order into the correct location.

If you do not, it is best if your husband has remembered to bring his cell phone.

And once we did get it when didn't even get the entire order.

It is 4:30 a.m. here and I've been in with Easton more times than I can count. It seems he has swung over the line to too much sleep in his sleep bank. Oops.

He has been wide awake since about 3:00 I'd say.

I'm not happy.

We Left!

This morning I showered, got dressed, boys too...and we got out of the house! We were gone by 8:30. We stopped for breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company like I always used to do with Easton (and D in my belly!). Headed next door to Old Navy to make some returns and browse. Then we went back down to the outlet mall (Colorado Mills for those of you who know the area). Made some returns and purchases there too. Yay! I'd say the outing did Easton and I a lot of good. And Dalton did some brief car snoozes. Both boys are napping now.

I think Easton's getting caught up as far as sleep goes. He took a 2+ hour nap yesterday and then still went down at a normal bedtime and slept till almost 7:30 this morning. Good stuff! He was the one wanting to nap today, even. So I'm letting him. Really what he wanted was to put his p.j.'s on. I said, "those are for naptime, not quiet time. Are you going to take a nap?" and the answer was clearly yes. Before I left I "threatened" him with a, "Easton, if I have to come back in here because you're being too loud, or calling for me, or I hear you on the wall (he likes to do headstands, etc. against the wall sometimes) then I'm going to come take your jammie pants off." Hee hee!

Speaking of "hee hee"...yesterday the boys were in my room...I was putting a new sheet on Diddlebug's bed and Easton came running in, "Mommy! Mommy! Dalton threw up on his diaper! Better hurry!!" It was the "better hurry!" part that has me laughing. Silly guy. And such a good babysitter.

What else? Oh, the last several nights Dalton has been on a "starving around 11:00 p.m." streak. It's been rather frustrating. So, last night after he was up from 9-9:45 in his bed rolling around he finally started crying. Gave him the paci about 3 times over the next 45 minutes. Finally decided to feed him but I had recently pumped so I thought to try water as one of my lovely commenters once suggested (hi O!). He sucked it down without batting an eye...about 2 ounces. Then I put him back down, asleep. I came downstairs all excited for my new method. I filled a bottle up with more water for later in the night. Then it occurred to me, "there's probably a 'limit' as to how much water a baby should have". So I hopped online to some of my trusted resources (kellymom.com and askdrsears.com) to see what they said. Well, I already knew a breastfed baby doesn't need water, but they did help me to see that it's only going to discourage filling up with breastmilk later. And I have issues getting enough milk into him as it is. Although I just would prefer he did it during daytime as you're all well aware by now. He's been sucking down up to 9 ounces at that 11:00-ish hour. That is crazy. Then, he wakes again later in the night...well, morning...for more. But once actual morning time rolls around he's just not so hungry anymore. Blah.

Anyhoo, the 2 ounces of water didn't help him sleep at all anyway. He was up not even 15 minutes later and I just let him have what he could get out of me. Which was enough to last longer than I thought it would.

Well I guess that's all from me for now. Sorry for no pictures!

Feeling Lazy

Working with Dalton to get good sleep has made us so much lazier than before. It's 1:57 and no one in this house is dressed, although Easton did change pajamas. Jason says it's a beautiful day outside. I'm not sure if I'm gonna get out there.

I don't like this.

We haven't been going to Gym lately because I wanted to figure out which session would work with Dalton's schedule we were working towards. We've been skipping out on Circle Time at the 'brary too and Miss Jenny even stopped us the last time we were at the library to ask if Thursdays still worked for us. She said she missed Easton.

But, I'm not even doing an official schedule with D anymore. He wakes when he wakes (usually around 7:30) and I start his "routine" then...two hours up, two hours down. I would've done that anyway. Well, not the two hours down part. I would've gotten him up after it was clear he wouldn't go back to sleep. I still sometimes do. Dalton is still on his 45 minute nap kick. So, he's up there now. Hasn't made an actual sound, but I can hear him rolling around and not sleeping. Easton's sleeping, though. That's good...today. Today I wanted him to nap. Still trying to get him caught up in the sleep department.

So, instead of going outside or running errands Easton and I goofed around on the computer this morning while Dalton slept. And Easton looked at a picture of Christmas lights online and said, "It's too bright, Mommy" and went and got his new sunglasses. He broke his cool, blue ones over the weekend. I was surprised they lasted as long as they did. So he's got these now:


And he did this as a tribute to Adam:

He saw Adam's pictures online this morning. He thought they were especially amusing on the dog, though.

Just before they both went down for naps Easton jumped behind Dalton who was playing at his little mat/gym thing:

I just now noticed his little hands in the massage position.

Dalton's "get me out of here" face:


And then they went down for their naps. Dalton has a runny nose today. Very clear and very runny. Easton didn't want to take his nap at first but I got him to eventually...with bribes again...M&M's of course. And I told him I'd bring back the stuffed basketball and football I had confiscated while he was sleeping IF he fell asleep. This amused him so perhaps that is what did the trick.

Okay, well as I'm being so lazy I have nothing more to say. There ya go!

He Survived...

Man my poor tot has had a rough few days. First daycare, then the McDonald's bonk, and now...HE PULLED OUR DRESSER OVER!!! Our huge, massive, not all that tall dresser fell over! And he is fine!

I was with him the whole time. I was sitting there pumping and he was pulling out all the drawers like he likes to do. Again, in hindsight, probably a foolish thing to let him do but it wasn't the first time and I was sitting right there... Anyway, I wasn't watching exactly at that moment because I was probably distracted by my boob or something...but I really don't think he was climbing it and I saw it start going over! You might picture a long, drawn out "Nooooooooo!" a la Principal Skinner but as my child's short life flashed before my eyes I screamed a very short and very high "No!" The bed and the fact that he is the skinniest thing on two legs somehow "saved" him. My mommy adrenaline kicked in something fierce and I threw the pump parts aside and rushed to pull the very heavy dresser back up with one hand. The frame of our fancy bed caught the edge of the dresser so he was trapped between the mattress and the dresser's edge. Oh my gosh...if it had completely crushed him...well, I shudder to think. We had a special, sentimental guitar lamp on top that broke into J's sock drawer (must take care of that before he goes looking for socks) and the TV and all that fell off and unplugged themselves. Nothing else seems broken yet. Especially not my boy. Whew.

That is after I put the dresser back up and the TV on top. I didn't know where else to start. Scary, scary, scary!

So that was our morning's excitement.

As if that weren't enough...the boys are also wearing new outfits today...now how exciting is that? Eh?




Cuties.

Pictures of them at doughnut time yesterday:




And then E and I did some painting.


10 points if you can tell me who this is supposed to be:

I painted him (from upsidedown), not Easton. He is not an artistic prodigy. He can put a halfway decent face, ears, hair, and toes on a circle if I draw it for him. That's about as far as his artistic talent goes just yet. When should they start holding brushes and pencils "right"? 'Cause that might have something to do with it...

Easton ate half a waffle and then asked for something else this morning. I never wanted to be the type to give in to that kind of stuff...and I don't always. But, since he was asking for oatmeal and I want him to eat I gave in. And he ate a whole packet of oatmeal. And he looked very cute eating it at the top of the stairs:

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My mom called around then. I couldn't find my phone. Dalton had it:

I don't remember him getting a call but he must've needed it for something.

Here he is just being cute looking up at me:


Okay, well, we went to Kohl's to return something this morning. Easton is running a little sleep deprived still so he wasn't being the best listener (not "bad", though) and we had to leave Kohl's before I could spend too much money :) I've been telling him all day that he's going to take a nap. I say, "Not books. Not quiet time. A nap." He was agreeable. He went right down for his nap, no calling for me, no wanting his timer, nada. Just before I left his room he said, "I want to share M.M.'s with Mommy when I wake up." Deal. You take a nap we'll share M&M's, kid.

I think I'll go wake him here soon. M&M's sound delish!

Quick Post

Thanks for the votes. #1 it is.

I don't have much to say since I just blogged last night.

I will say that Dalton woke very hungry before I even went to bed last night. He guzzled 9 ounces and probably could've done more. Wow. Plus he woke again later to eat more. Pig. Just do it in the daytime, kid!

Both boys slept in today: 7:40 for E and 7:45 for D...they hear each other when they're in those lighter stages of sleep and most definitely wake each other up at those times. Oh well.

Today was doughnut day and on our way we discovered Crazy Ol' Vietnamese lady at it again. Today is also trash day in the 'hood and she was walking around with her bags of trash hanging off her stick. Fine. But she was lifting up other people's trash can lids and looking inside!!! I hope by the time she got to our house the dirty diaper aroma scared her off. How disturbing. I know it's a crime to look in other people's mail boxes...what about trash cans? It's just wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Anyway, Easton's eye is already looking better today. He hates when we clean it. I think 'cause it's near his eye. Usually he doesn't mind tending to his cuts and scrapes. But he does now. He usually enjoys "tickle waters" (hydrogen peroxide)...now he acts like it's hurting him.

I'm going to get some Mederma for Kids some online friends have told me about. I wonder if it will work on his old scars too?

Okay...Easton's in need of new books now. Gotta run.

Lucky Number Seven

This is a Dalton post. He is seven whole months old today. It is going too fast!!!

In honor of his seven months we did a photo session today. Would you help a mother out and vote pretty please which one is your favorite???? Please? Yes, they are all quite similar, therefore you need to choose which expression is the cutest. Please. We're going for cute. Here are the nominees:

Which 7 month picture is the CUTEST?
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	257
	260
	290
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pollcode.com free polls

Dalton had a good day today. He went to bed at 6:10 tonight and I already heard from him at 8:00. That is usually a bad sign. Eek.

He's been biting the crap out of my poor nips lately. Ack! It hurts, those brand new teeth are sharp. I yank him off (not what I'm "supposed" to do from a nipular damage standpoint, but it's instinct...sorry). Then I tell him "No biting!" and sometimes my firm tone racked with lingering pain makes the poor baby cry. I know he doesn't know better. But I also really, really want him to stop. Boy does it hurt! And makes me a little gun shy for the next feeding. :) He's only doing it when he gets full and he wants to do his little grin up at me without letting go. So..CLAMP! Followed by some colorful words from me. Yowsa!

Okay, well...an Easton post follows. He has some exciting stuff going on himself today...

An Easton Post

Easton's got a Halloween costume in mind...remember Nelly?


Okay, not really...that attractive bandaid is covering up this:



Ouchie!!! He had a little mishap at McDonald's this morning. I wanted to do something special for him given his daycare trauma yesterday. So, we asked what he wanted to have/do for breakfast and he picked McDonald's. He ate a tiny bit and then went off to play. We've never made a big deal about him going UP slides (although in hindsight we should have) other than, "Wait for ____ to finish coming down" at Gym or whatever. So, he was going up. Another kid was coming down and they bonked. Apparently the other child is part vampire as those are teeth marks you see. Ouch. Easton calmed down a lot faster than the other kid and when E and I went to see how the other kid had fared/was faring he only screamed louder. So we left. Feeling very bad. Although the other parent didn't seem to think of the injuries as anything more than "accidents happen". If anything, because Easton was the one bleeding from the face he might've felt worse for us. I dunno...

He had a rough weekend, didn't he?

Saturday morning, the day of the place with the bee, he asked for me to put him in Dalton's high chair so he could watch me cook (AJ's chocolate gravy!).

That was one of the first clues as to how insecure he was feeling that day.

Then he stuck like glue to Daddy who was fixing the windowsill in Easton's room:


We thought it was cute how he was imitating exactly what Daddy had been doing:


He had a bit of a rough day today too. A little sleep deprived perhaps (though he slept past 8:00), the whole eye injury, no nap, etc...he may still be traumatized from yesterday too. We had company over to watch the Broncos game (the Two Johns--"Baby" John and his dad--and also the mom, Krista). Easton did well sharing and such...till the end. Then he started misbehaving a little...he "whipped" his Cuddles at me (so it got taken away briefly). Later he faked like he was gonna hit Baby John!!! He made the hitting motion (for a reaction) but never made (nor do we feel he ever intended to make) contact. Since he didn't actually hit he didn't get a time out but I swooped in and picked him up for a stern talking to. I was so embarassed. He's never hit another kid...still hasn't, I guess. But he's never made a move like that before either. Very disappointing!! Daycare to blame again? Or just a normal phase? Ugh. Not happy 'bout that. Whatever it is.

Put him to bed at 7:15 tonight. Hoping he can start getting caught up. I'll let you know...

The Place with the Bee...

The boys went to that drop-in daycare again tonight. We refer to it as "the place with the bee". It seems strange to call it "daycare" or by the center's name. I don't know why. So, when we first toured it with the boys Easton noted some of the toys he wanted to play with in the future...and a bee hanging from the ceiling was one of them. Last time didn't end great (and then we all got that tummy bug from there) so we waited awhile before trying again and today was the day. We've been building it up to Easton...his buddy Ellis was there again. We put a little bee sticker on his calendar to mark the day.

And Easton knew.

He was a punk and misbehaving all day (we were trying to be very sensitive to his insecurities) and he was saying things like, "I don't want Mommy and Daddy to go bye-bye". On the drive there he was so quiet and nervous seeming, picking at his lip. Sad. He was okay with Jason there when we first arrived. But as we moved towards leaving (hugs and kisses goodbye) he started saying, "I want to go to sleep!" and stuff.

And of course he fell apart when we left. I called about half an hour later to see how things were going and they said he had calmed down but had thrown up all over himself from getting so worked up. :( They said his clothes were in their washer. I knew to send spare clothes, luckily. Poor kid.

We peeked in the window before going in the room to get him once it was all over and he was holding it together sitting in a chair with his back to us. He was at a little table with Ellis and another kid, a Dixie cup of milk in front of him. But, again, when he saw us he was able to let it all out. And he did. He was a mess. He told Jason that he threw up. But he also says he had fun. His little sheet with diaper changes and food and stuff says under "Enrichment Activity: "He didn't do anything. Just cry and cry." How sad!!! They say he only had pears and milk for his dinner. I'm surprised if he even did that. Poor guy. They told us he was holding himself together pretty well, but the tears were always there. I really hope this doesn't send him back into the super-clingy phase he was in not too long ago.

On our drive home we asked him, "Easton did you get sad when we left?" And he said, "Yes. Easton cried a lot, a lot, and lots." And I did a sympathetic, "You did?" and he said, "I wiped me tears with Cuddles". *sniff* That makes me feel so sad.

We brought him a "prize" which is how he says "surprise". It was a cookie. (When we asked him what he thought his suprise might be he guessed "a pig". We brought a cookie after last time too.) He ate his whole "prize" on the way home. Then some mac and cheese, juice, and water at home before his shower. Yes, he's still on that shower kick.

Supposedly Dalton did great. He was crying on their changing table (being changed) when I went in to get him but from looking at his "activity sheet" it is clear he was both hungry and tired. The "teacher" told me he was doing great except for diaper changes and that he was "crawling all around the room". Seeing as how he does not yet do that at home I said, "Really??? He was crawling? He hasn't done that at home!" but I was kinda skeptical, of course. She said, "Yep. All around." We'll see. I bet she was simply noticing him in different spots and didn't quite realize how exactly he might've gotten himself there. She had other kids (including her own grandson) to watch. But I'm glad he was exploring, all the same.

After last time we made sure both boys got really good baths when we got home. Even if it meant they were in bed really late (9:00). I know they were still exposed to all sorts of stuff while they were there but it made us feel a bit better.

Actually Dalton hasn't been getting good naps lately. Not at all. Yet the last two nights have been great...for him. Thursday he had just two 45 minute naps all day. I left him in his bed resting for more than the 45 minutes, though. I put him down at 6:00 that night and he slept till 7:20 the next morning waking just once to eat. Woo hoo!

Last night was nearly the same, but with a 7:15 bedtime and when he woke to eat I only let him eat for six minutes. Not long enough, apparently. He woke up hungry again 3 hours later. But then slept till after 8 this morning. Wooooooo!

Crappy naps again today...a 45-er at home, I woke him from a decent nap after an hour and a half to leave for the place with the bee, and his sheet says he took another 45-er while there. We'll see how tonight goes. He didn't go down till 8:45.

Oh!!! And what did Jason and I do all afternoon while the boys missed us? We went to Six Flags! We had never been to an amusement park together and so we went and did the roller coasters and a few other rides. The weather was great, not too hot, a pleasant breeze. And the crowds weren't bad at all either. Jason had to wait longer for our sandwiches at the grocery store deli than we did for any of the rides. We actually left having ridden all we'd wanted to and went to grab a quick dinner before picking up the boys. This was all in less than 5 hours. No pictures...I didn't want to lug anything around. Not like you can really take good pictures on roller coasters anyway. I needed to "secure all loose items" anyway. So I just left it at home. Sorry.

But I do have some other pictures from the last few days. Let's see...we opened a toy we got after Baby Dalton was born. He was just too little to play with it yet so I left it shrink wrapped so it wouldn't become Easton's toy. But, Easton was very excited to "share with Dalton" anyhoo (check out D's moobs!):


It was right around this time that Easton patted his brother on the shoulder and told him, "You a good boy, Dah-Don". Awwwwww.


Two toothy grin:


Actually, Auntie Lauren came up on Thursday and spent the night with us because she didn't have school Friday. We went to the zoo with her...but those pictures will have to wait for another post. But here are 2 from her visit. A cool "game" she did with Easton:

Not really sure how they played it, but oh well, Easton was happy. He's always happy with Lauren around. I think she likes him too. I know she does.

And a rare sight of Baby D:

Crying?!?! I don't even remember what was bothering him. I think maybe a loud noise? He can be kinda sensitive sometimes. Goof. Oh. And Easton wore that same 9 month sized outfit starting when he was 15 months old. He wore it the day he got his first haircut, that's how I remember.

Okay, so the zoo crew pics and stories will have to wait for another time, as I said. My bed is calling. Night!

104

That is how many ounces of breastmilk I have stored up: 104. Just in case you were wondering.

A girl I know online had her power go out and she was distressed over maybe losing her stash of frozen milk. So, that is why I went and figured it out. Jason was taking a quiz so I had a bit of free time on my hands.

It sounds like a lot (to me), but it is not even a gallon (128 ounces).

Just call me Bessie.

Moo.

R.

Today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. You know how I know this? Because it is apparently important to the fine people at Microsoft. My husband, who is back in town (yay!), learned about this special day while at work. Good stuff, me hearties. The only way I know how to talk like a pirate is from the Friendly Captain Feathersword...

What a foolish idea for a "day". And apparently it's an INTERNATIONAL day. See here if you care at all about the details. I didn't. I don't. Only to see if it was really a day. Trying to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt I thought it might be an anti-piracy thing. You know, something worthwhile... but no. I Googled it and it is indeed a pirate day. Good times.

Anyway, according to Talk Like A Pirate.com's website, silliness is the key for the day. And so here is a silly Easton story to send you off for the night (or morning). He had a really good dinner. So, afterwards I asked him if he wanted to have a treat of 5 M&M's. He said, "Yes!" I went to get them and he came over saying, "I don't want too many M. M.'s, Mommy. Just two." And that's all he had.

Jason and I were debating earlier as to whether Easton's awesomeness is as good as before or better than before. I say he's back to normal (so, as good as before)...Jason thinks he's even better than normal. It's a win-win, either way. But, he's definitely awesome.

He's taken a shower by himself the last two nights, instead of a bath. Kinda different. But cute.

Okay, that was a happier post than earlier. Good for me. :)

Day 2...

...of no caffiene. I'm not doing it for a real reason, just kind of a coincidence and I'm going with it. I feel funny. Like super duper tired, but I went to take a nap and nothing happened. Yes, I was able to try a nap because both of my kids are down. I guess maybe Easton isn't ready to completely give up naps. Some days perhaps, others no. I guess that's what we'll go with.

I was up from about 4-6 last night. Yes, the original waking was thanks to my bouncing baby boy...but I could NOT go back to sleep. I was stressing over scheduling with Dalton. I was playing out different schedules in my head, trying to find one that might work for us...for me.

If you knew me, you'd know I'm a planner. I love planning and lists and my PDA. All of it. So, it's strange that somehow I can't get the hang of scheduling with my babies. Life kind of gets in the way and I guess that's more important to me than sleeping. What a bummer.

I know I talk about all this a lot, but it bugs me even more than I'm probably letting on. I find it very stressful. I don't want to, but I do. I'm tired. I want to sleep. I want my kid to sleep. I also want him to eat. Why won't he eat during the day? Why? My milk supply is suffering. I'm on Fenugreek again. I'm pumping every 3 hours.

I've always been a pretty big believer in that "babies know what they need". So why am I trying to alter that? Because I want to sleep more at night. Why am I waking him up if he's sleeping? Why? If he wants to eat just 2 ounces why do I try to get more into him? If he doesn't want to eat every 4 hours, why am I making him? But seriously, what breastfed baby doesn't want to eat at least every 4 hours during the day??? Especially when he only had 2 or 3 ounces four hours ago? My baby prefers to do all of this at night and I don't know how to fix that. If he's hungry (which he clearly is) I cannot deny him food. I just can't....can I?

Ugh, this is so hard. I've always been so big on "breastfeeding on demand"...but his demands are few and far between. The kid just doesn't seem hungry during the day. He has some milk, of course. But I'm offering more before he's asking for it. I always thought of "on demand" was not making baby wait...but what if he's making me wait??? Or wake?

My sweet, precious angel baby...I wish we weren't having this struggle. I wish it wasn't affecting me like it is. Spending two hours when the rest of the house is asleep trying to figure out how I can get more sleep is pretty ironic. I don't care if it's by schedule or what. I just want something to work but I guess I'm getting impatient. I don't know how long to give a plan before I see SOME improvements.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Okay. Thanks for listening. It's 3:30. Time to get Dalton out of his bed and time to try to get some milk into him. Oh, and to wake Easton up so that he'll go to bed tonight.

Such is life.

From my title it is clear to me this is not the direction I intended this post to go. Oh well. Camera batteries (the rechargeable kind) are all dead on the recharger. I think we need new rechargeable ones anyway...how does that happen?

I really am done now. Bye.

So Much to Say...

Now I've got Dave Matthews in my head. Good tune. Anyway, I do have lots to say. First, thanks for all the comments yesterday. The video blog was weird to do but I hope it will make some of my blog buddies more willing to do the same. At least once.

Anyway, Jason is on his way home as we speak...er, type. He's in the air and not for much longer. The day he left I tried to get a good picture of us to send him:





We sent a movie instead.

I'm proud of how I did with the two kids. I thought I'd be going crazy but I'm far from it. It helps that Easton has been in his awesome phase.

And D, my teether:

I'd like to think that's why he was up so much that first night...his second tooth finally broke through the gum the following day (9/17). It's about time! There was still a bit of tooth left to finish poking out of the gum so he was still a little "less than restful" last night. It really wasn't too bad, though.

Easton ended up wanting to take a nap in the midst of his book reading time yesterday. I went in to exchange his books and he told me he wanted me to "turn me lamp oss and I want me song". So he took a short nap. I woke him after about an hour, though. As I've mentioned a time or two ;) I like how he sleeps at night when he's not napping. But, he got that little snooze so we could stay up a teeny bit later for our movie:

Then he even got to hear Jason tell him his bedtime story over the phone. Not bad. Not bad at all.

We had a lazy morning today with waffles for Easton. Dalton just looked on:



He is laughing at his brother in that above one. Very cute. They've been really sweet together lately.

When Dalton went down for his morning nap Easton and I made special treats: "Indoor S'mores" from the Golden Grahams box. A mommy friend told us about them. Pretty good. Easton preferred just eating the plain cereal as he looked on:


I also whipped up a batch of pureed banana to introduce to Dalton when he woke up:

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He did okay with it, I'd say he likes the sweet potatoes better though. I'm being really bad about the solids with him. He's just not eating much milk these days. And then he isn't pooping regularly anymore, then when he finally does it's horrific. So, being the smart mommy that I am (errrr, NOT) I gave him constipating bananas. Genius, eh? Well anyway, I don't even offer solids every day. I'm sure I should but I don't.

After he was done with his bananas Easton pushed him and the highchair over to the stairs and did this about fourteen times:




And Dalton is finally starting to not really stay where I put him:

He is NOT crawling by any means but he can get places quickly with his roll/scooch technique:

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He does that over and over, scooch, roll, re-evaluate, scooch, roll again. Cutie. He can go pretty quickly at times. And Easton and I have been known to crack up watching him.

Anyhoo, I need to have some more of my "S'mores"...Hey! I get it!!! Okay, I got it before. Like when I was 6. But still. I need s'more. And some decaf sweet tea and to wait for Jason. The boys were both in bed before 7 tonight. Hope I'm not regretting that come dawn. :)

lonelymom29

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I Can't Believe How MUCH I LOVE...

...my kids! Dalton is just the sweetest thing nearly all the time. I love when he wakes up from his naps or in the morning and I go in to get him. No matter if it's morning or afternoon I greet him with a big, "Good morning!" and he gets so excited and smiley. I open his shade and turn off his humidifier and he knows this is part of the routine before I get him out of bed and he just kicks and squirms and smiles with the anticipation. And when I do lift him out he always nuzzles my shoulder. Like he's giving a hug. Really it's probably him trying to get as close as he can get to the milk supply, but I like to pretend it's a hug. I really lucked out with a happy baby this time around. He is so easy (well, except for the whole staying asleep thing). And happy. And sweet. While I want him to stay little for a lot longer I also look forward to who he'll become as he grows.

Easton is, like, the coolest toddler I know. Probably it's because he's the only toddler I really know but he is making me burst today. In a good way. A great way. So, I had Little Einsteins on the TV and was spooning in Easton's yogurt. Dalton was playing with an envelope on the floor rolling this way and that. Well, then my mom called and I stopped feeding E to talk to my mom. While I was "away" in the kitchen (watching the boys through what we like to call our "portal") I saw Easton get up out of his chair, bring Dalton a toy to play with, and then sit back in his chair. He thought of this all by himself!!!

When I was done chatting with my mom I finished with Easton and his yogurt and left him in front of Little Einsteins while I told him I was going to go put Dalton down for his nap. While Dalton and I were rocking Easton came up the stairs saying, "It's time for me nap now too, Mommy" and went quietly into his room. I guess Einsteins was over and that has always been naptime in the past. So, I put Dalton down to sleep and then went into E's room where he had a stack of 3 books waiting for himself on the bed for his "quiet time". Oh. My. Gosh. I totally love that kid.

I'm sure the stories lose something in the translation but that kid makes me so proud. Makes me feel like I'm doing something right, ya know?

Earlier Easton was goofing around on the couch where Dalton and I were also sitting. He accidentally bonked Dalton in the head with his foot. Dalton was fine but I still made Easton apologize so as E came over D looked at him wearing a HUGE snot bubble and a smile. This made Easton and I laugh quite hard at "bubble nose". My guess is it's the teething that's making him all snotty. That second tooth still hasn't popped through, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him like before. Hmmmm.

I just went in to exchange Easton's books and he had them stacked up at his feet and was laying down quietly but sat up when I came in. He had to show me a page in the book where the line is, "I'm sorry when you're sad" with a picture of a sad kid. He likes to tell me that "maybe the happy one can help" in regards to the happy kid on the opposite page. So sweet. Then as I got him some new books off his shelf he told me, "Libbits (the frog), Little O, and Monkey is giving hugs." Sure enough he had them posed in the corner in a group hug. So cute!

He's a sweetie poo. Makes me feel bad...I went and had his foot sized the other day. He's been in the same 5-5 1/2 sized shoes since, gosh, last spring I'd say. Like, spring when he was 15 months old. That spring. But Jason noticed his toes hanging off the tops of his sandals the other day so I thought I'd get him sized for some new shoes for next season. The lady put him on that metal measurer and said, "Wow. He's got an extra long big toe (he does?) which would put him in at least a 7. I'd probably go with a 7 and a half." Ummmmm, oops!!! Poor kid. He's never once complained and when I felt for room in his other shoes it felt like he had plenty. Shoulda felt 'round that long big toe. I've been squeezing him into too small shoes!!! When I had him trying on 6's though he tripped like the shoes were too big. This is tough. We bought 7s but I still feel like they're too big. I'll re-evaluate now that we're home. Taking his big toe into account and all.

Well anyway, I guess that's all from me for today. Got the Broncos/Raiders coming up soon and being the Raider Hater I am I'm glad they're not looking so good lately. And I gotta see how I'm doing so far in my Mommy Fantasy Football League. Bye!

No Me Time

Instead I got some "we time". Jason leaves for Redmond tomorrow (Sunday) and I was looking for a brief parenting break to gear up for my 3 days of being completely on duty. So, Jason and I ditched the boys at my mom and Lauren's and headed out on a date. We started talking about it with Easton this morning. It helped that we were just there and had some fun games and toys we could talk about them playing while "Mommy and Daddy went bye-bye". He understood and was fine. He looked like he might get sad right when we were telling him goodbye and he said he didn't want me to leave but I reminded him that he'd be happy and have fun and we'd come back and get him. And he did great. They both did.




Cori will also be happy to hear that we kept D on his schedule letting him get his 2 (actually 2+) hour nap in this morning before we left and then having my mom put him down and keep him down for another 2+ while we were out. Worked great. He was a little late getting in bed tonight but it was still before 8. Not too bad.

So, Jason and I headed to Southlands, a newish shopping "district" near my mom's. It's actually where that P.B. Loco place is too... Anyway, we headed over there for a big, late lunch at a hibachi place and paid way too much money. They charged $7 to share an entree that already cost $23. Oh well. We didn't want two $23 dollar entrees with leftovers that would've spoiled in the car. My pina colada made me feel better about it all. :)

Then we did a bit o' browsing in the shops...I can't help myself from looking at kids clothes even when they're not with me. Easton is in need of some pants that will fit his waist this fall/winter so I'm constantly on the lookout. I need to learn to sew to take in the waistbands a bit. Anyway...did some browsing and then just stopped and sat on a bench for a bit to enjoy doing nothing at all for a change while we waited for our movie:


We watched the kids frolicking in the same fountains that soaked Easton the other day and we headed to a movie after seeing an example of some bad parenting. It made us sad so we left. The teen parent we saw today was one reason teen parents have a bad rap in general. Anyway....

We saw The Bourne Ultimatum which we both enjoyed. I had seen the first one only and Jason hadn't seen either of the others but we liked it quite a lot. Sometimes we have a hard time picking movies. Now I think we'll add the first two to our Netflix queue. And perhaps to my reading list too.

So after the movie we went to pick up the boys only to find they weren't there. They had all gone to the park so we went to find them and found them on their way back:




Look how happy Easton is to see us again:



Dalton is pretty much always happy anyway.

We got the report (love those!) that both did really well and all that and we headed home. Both boys actually stayed awake during the ride home (no nap for Easton again today...on purpose) and they both went to sleep super-easily once we got home tonight. Woo hoo!

I'm looking for them to sleep in tomorrow which really only means past 7 these days. E (and we) made it till 7:30 today and Dalton till 8. Ahhhhh. Dalton had 3 night wakings last night in his 13 hours of sleep. One was before I went to bed and the other two he got some milk. He didn't eat much before bed at all last night so I felt guilty and gave him his milkings. But he slept great otherwise. Sad that 3 wakings isn't half bad around here.

Anyway, Jason's working on some school before his trip so I should find something to do too. First stop: pumping! What fun I have!