Max Baby Summary: Week 31

by Meghan // April 18, 2013 // Comments off

Max has been very clingy this week. His second tooth is here, and he is chewing like crazy with his side gums, so I am wondering if he is getting more teeth?! But I’m not sure. For the most part this last week was good. Minus the screaming. Oh my! The screaming. And it isn’t screaming like, “Oh, I’m mad so I’m screaming.” Or “feed me now!” (though he does that sometimes while I get a bottle ready.) No, it is just screaming. For FUN. A high pitched “Wheeee!” sounding scream. He was doing this while we ate lunch the other day. Lexie leaned over, put her hand on my forearm and said, “Mama. I do not like that sound.” Oh sweet girl, neither do I! Hopefully he will grow out of it before long.

He is signing milk all the time now. While I make his bottle, that little hand is just going to town signing for “milk.” It’s so sweet. He has been eating okay, but not great. Since the first tooth broke through he has good days and bad; he usually is only taking 4-5ounces, but will finish the rest mixed into cereal. However, because his new meds are working for his reflux, he is able to eat lots of real foods he couldn’t eat before, and now protests plain oatmeal! The boy wants real food. haha So we have been doing lots of avacado, carrots, peas, green beans, pears, apples and blueberries, etc.

His sleep has been better this past week, with only a few short naps. This weekend he had *perfect* sleep. All. Weekend. Long. It was amazing, really. I also found the activity table; it was hidden in the garage. We started using it this past weekend, and he did really well. For a baby who doesn’t seem the least bit interested in crawling or moving around at all, really, he stood up on his own for a long time playing at the table. He hasn’t mastered the art of bending his legs when he falls; so rather than fall onto his bottom … he just topples over like a stiff log. haha He doesn’t think it’s very funny, and usually gets really scared when it happens, so I try to avoid it… but the boy needs to learn how to fall onto his booty. So we are working on bending his knees and bouncing while standing, but those feet are firmly planted; I just don’t think he’s ready for all that yet really.

Considering Mister has been having such good sleep as of late, it is fitting that Lexie has been a little hit or miss. A few weeks ago, she went from not wanting to go to bed at night (read: saying she is tired, wanting to sleep, but also wanting us to pat her or rock her, which we don’t do because she has always gone right to sleep) to sleeping in her rocking chair. For some strange reason she has decided she wants to fall asleep in her rocking chair; and despite our attempts at keeping her in the bed, she gets up. But we have been going in and putting her back in the bed. The craziest part about all of this is she has been NAPPING. Consistently. For an entire week! I think this is partially because she is done teething. All her two year molars are in, and now she is back to eating and sleeping well. We considered taking the rocking chair out of the room, but I think we will just wait and see how long this phase lasts. Maybe she is just ready for a big bed… I am not sure. The 2.5 year mark usually is a developmental milestone for children when you generally see added clinginess, sleep disruptions, and new fears develop. She is definitely more clingy to both JTom and me, and has mentioned being afraid a few different story characters were going to “get me.” We have reassured her nothing is going to get her; she doesn’t mention this at bed time or anything, just sometimes while playing alone in her room.

Moni, Shelby, and Lilly watching us play doll house

Her imagination is wild! We still have engines that are beyond wearing out their welcome. haha I think I tell them things 200 times a day. “Will you tell me engines what I am eating? Will you tell my engines they need to sleep at nap time? Will you tell my engines they need to stay on the swing set and leave Scarlet alone?…..” Oh my. Then, the other night we had dinosaurs. On the ceiling. The engines go everywhere with us; she even includes them in her stories during stretching at gymnastics. They really like the museum. As long as I don’t have to feed them, I guess they can stay. 😉

Right now, Lexie is really into reading her devotional and Bible. I mean … like they are attached at her hip. As a matter of fact, the devotional is falling apart, and she can read every day, word for word, from January until today. Not kidding. That’s what we read for every nap and bedtime. It is her favorite. She is now acting like a little Mama to Max and her dolls. When Max cries she says, “Oh! Let me go see what is wrong to Max. Max, what is wrong to you? Tell me why.” haha I am not sure why she says “to” instead of “what,” but I’m sure she will figure it out soon enough. Her new favorite words are “fantastic!” and “earlier.” Hearing her say earlier is hilarious.

chewing on a pear

dyeing Easter eggs … a week late =/

painting her fingernails

We visited a church this past Sunday. It was really nice; it reminded me of my church growing up, which was a Full Gospel church. This is a non denominational church, it is small but has many young families. I am excited to maybe visit it again this coming Sunday. J.Tom was raised Presbyterian, so it is different than he is used to. But I actually felt like I was in church. For the past 5 years in Hot Springs I just didn’t get what I needed from our church; provided I didn’t give much back to them in way of serving. I never felt like it was home. The sermons were more like the new school way of thinking-motivational sermons or get people involved in serving the church, but let’s not talk about sin, salvation, the devil, or how to grow in Christ. That’s how I felt, anyway. The church we visited Sunday had an amazing sermon, though a little long, and a great worship service. Lexie walked into children’s church like she owned the place. haha She enjoyed herself (although she was supposed to be in the nursery since she isn’t 3 yet..) I don’t know if we will visit a different church this week or try this one again. We will just pray about it and see. We just hope to find a church that gives us what we both need, and that we can be a serve as well.

How did you find your church home? Is it one you grew up in or one you found after marriage, college, children…?

Max Baby Summary: 29/30 weeks

by Meghan // April 9, 2013 // Comments off

Wow, I know. I’m behind… Max is now 7 months old/31 weeks. This is the update for his last (month) week, which was 30weeks old/the week he turned 7 months.

We have two teeth! The first one was his bottom center right, and it came in about a week ago. 3 days later the left tooth came through. The left one seems to really be bothering him today; he’s been pulling on his ears and chewing his fingers … but of course he hurts himself now when he chews them because there are teeth in there! Haha! It won’t be long before we will have to make a dentist appointment for him; he’s growing up so fast. I want to make sure that for his first dentist visit, we go somewhere who offer Children’s Dentistry as at least that way they know how to properly treat young children so that they are used to going to the dentist and not scared, (like I am). My friend takes her children to this Dentist in Sarasota, which is where they live, and they are supposed to be very good in treating children. So, I think I may look for a dentist local to us that offers a similar service so that his first visit is a good one.

He is sitting up all the time by himself (that actually started about a month ago). He is much more balanced. I noticed when Lexie was his age, in the middle of April she was pulling up on things and turning herself around while sitting. I’m wondering if it is harder for him because we have carpet now? Lexie had hardwood floors to spin on. If Max were sitting on hardwood floors, then everytime he leans over or reaches for something he would realize, ‘Hey, I can move!” haha I may get the foam ABC mat out that Lexie used and put it down instead of the quilt they play on.. But I’m not sure how well it will work on carpet.

He is babbling a LOT! Lexie taught him to say “dadadadadada” a few weeks ago. I’ve been working with him to say “dada” when JTom comes home or is holding him. Two days ago, the boy looked at his daddy and said, “dada,” then when JTom didn’t say anything back Max said, “dada,” until his daddy replied. Then he just beamed! JTom was very proud. =) So we are pretty well convinced he knows JTom is DaDa. He has a few other babble sounds he makes and is so proud of himself. Max is also signing for milk. He signs it when he is waiting for me to make his bottle, when I sign it to him, while he is drinking his bottle… so next we are going to do “more” and “please.”

He is wearing 12 month clothes (he has a few 9mo that he can wear). About 5 days ago, he woke up and had a head full of hair?! Prior to that he had a “mohawk.” Then 2 days ago he woke up with lighter hair! It’s crazy how babies literally change over night! His eyes … well I am going to let you decide from the pictures. I really don’t know. The centers look light green, but overall they’re just really blue.

Max’s 6 month dr apt went well. He started a new medicine, I think it is prilosec for babies. They compound it at the pharmacy. The taste is terrible so he has a hard time swallowing it (even with added flavoring) but it has helped tremendously! He went from barely eating and taking bottles to eating a LOT more! I think he has gained 5 lbs in the last 3 weeks. haha He has been eating peas, green beans, carrots, apples, apples w blueberries, and avacado with no problems. Bananas constipated him for a day or so, so he hasn’t had them anymore. But there have been no problems with anything else as far as reflux goes! What a blessing and answered prayer.

His sleep has finally gotten a little better for naps, and here is what his routine looks like:
6:45/7:15 wake
7:00/7:15 up, medicine, eat
7:45 independent play in pack n play
8:00/8:15 go downstairs to do calendar and activities with Lexie
8:50 wind down for nap
8:55-9 asleep (usually a 1hr10min-1.5hr nap)
10:15-10:45 wake up
11:00/11:15 eat, play
12:30-1:00 down for nap; we do 12:30 if he was SUPER tired from a short first nap, but 1:00 if not
2:00-3:00 wake up; time depends on what time he went down for second nap. (Usually a 1hr10min-1.5hr nap)
3:00 eat, play
sometimes he takes a cat nap (he is in the process of dropping this nap)
Ideally, his dinner is 6:00, bedtime is 7pm
On days he doesn’t get good sleep (usually if naps are interrupted it’s with a poopy diaper, or we go to the library for story time…) then we do bedtime an hour early, so asleep at 6pm. That helps his catch up on sleep, and keeps him from getting in an over tired cycle which can take weeks for a small child to get out of.

Lexie is doing great. She still enjoys gymnastics, and has all her “imaginary” friends. We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears, along with Billy Goats Gruff and the Three Little Pigs recently … now everything is a “daddy fill in the blank” “mommy fill in the blank,” or a “baby/Lexie fill in the blank.” Obviously this goes according to size of said object. =)

reading

She started letting me wash her hair in the kitchen sink, so hair washing and bath time are no longer a fight. She was doing great, and then about 4(?) or so weeks ago, it became an absolute screaming, tearful battle to get her in the tub so I could wash her hair. She doesn’t like teh water to get in her ears or eyes. Of course we did EVERYTHING to prevent this, but when
she is screaming and moving around, it becomes impossible to keep the water only on her hair …. After I convinced her the kitchen sink would be fun, and that my Memaw washed my hair in the kitchen sink, she was okay with it. =)

Two weekends ago, Spring hit Nebraska. Although this coming week is supposed to be stormy and cold, the last two weeks have been warm and sunny. We don’t do the Easter Bunny, so Lexie got a spring basket with some new learning toys and a few necessities. We gave her a Thomas the Engine (electric) toothbrush, some new PJs, new dry erase markers for her dry erase board, a pair of fiskar kid’s scissors, and some accessories for her light table. (The light table is a whole other post! Look for it later this week or next!)

She also got her first real kite! In Nebraska it is very windy, and out where we live used to be cornfields, so there are no big trees around the house, they are all a street over at the park and school. So it’s the perfect place to fly a kite. She had so much fun!

In many of the pictures I am posting, the grass was just barely turning green, now it is all green and trees have started budding and blooming(?). Our garden season is off from the south by about a month, so we don’t need to get anything in the ground for a few more weeks, at the latest May 1st.

JTom has been traveling some with work. He went to Milan, Italy last week. He brought back three bottles of Italian wine and some parmesean cheese. I still haven’t tasted the Italian wine, but I am sure it will be great. The cheese … well it’s good! =) In Italy they put (very expensive) balsamic vinegar on a little piece (like a cube) or parmesean cheese and eat it. So when we went to Grand Island last weekend we got some of the good, “gourmet” (though no expensive…) balsamic vinegar and tried it on the cheese. YUM! New favorite snack, for sure.
He brought back some “monies from Italy” for Lexie and she was beyond pleased. haha I got a beautiful rosary, and the wine.

Turkey season in Nebraska has opened, so JTom may be hunting Saturday. He joined a hunting lease here, that covers hunting land all over Nebraska, and in other states as well. I told him if he brings home meat so I don’t have to buy nasty store meat, it will be worth it. He said “it’s called hunting, not killing. I can’t promise I will bring anything home.” So, we will see if we end up w a turkey in the freezer. =)

We have started planning our garden. We know we are going to get in tomatoes and maybe a few other things. We have to get the fence done soon, hopefully in the next few weeks. All of the pictures below are from March, so they are actually a few weeks old, or older. You will notice Max’s hair isn’t very thick. Look at his hair and fat rolls in the next posts with pictures! It’s crazy how quickly they change.

reading to Bubby

Mister Bear playing in the bath

reading her Bible to Max

I love to be upside down

new outfit

playing outside in the dirt

Happy Bear

Angel Baby

just minding my own business…..

Until now ….

picnic outside

happy bear

Mister outside in the exersaucer

Hi Mama- look at me!

28 weeks old (6.5 months)/ First update since February

by Meghan // March 22, 2013 // Comments off

Well, it’s been a while huh? So … we have moved! We successfully moved our children, the animals, and our belongings a month ago. Whew, it was a little crazy, but we did it!

Sweet little mister

First I will do a quick update on Max and Lexie, then an update on everything else. Max has outgrown most of his 6 month clothes and is sitting for long stretches of time now. He still likes his feet, and loves his Lexie. We have been signing for “milk” for a month or two now, and he has started to do it back while eating or waiting for me to finish making a bottle. I am not sure if he has put the meaning of it to the actual result, but he signs back at me. So he is either good at imitating and will get the meaning soon, or he already gets it. He has been less than a good sleeper since we moved.
For the first 3-4 weeks his room was too bright while we waited on blinds to arrive. He was also getting used to his new surroundings, which I think was very distracting for him. He has started having good naps about every other
day. I’ve noticed when I get him up he smells SO BADLY of acid, and his sheets have been stained, so I do believe we are dealing with reflux again. This could be due to many things: A)not taking his medicine. We were doing probiotics and no dairy which were both helping. But at this age reflux tends to flare back up, and teething can make it worse. B) his baby food could be contaminated with dairy. Did you know food companies are not required to put ingredients on their products if it is cross contaminated, and not an actual ingredient? So it is possible his baby foods are coming in contact w milk. Also, I don’t have the carton to his oatmeal, but it’s possible it contains whey. We are going to the grocery store today so I am going to double check. We go to the dr tomorrow afternoon.

As for Lexie, since we cut back on milk, yogurt, etc. her eczema doesn’t seem to flare as much on her face. I just want to know for sure that Max has a dairy allergy, and what is causing Lexie’s eczema. I had some of his Prevacid left over so we started it again… with our new insurance we have to pay for all of it, and here it will cost us …. wait for it ….. $224.31. for a 31 day supply. When the insurance lady told me this I cried all morning. How is it possible these medicine companies can sell pain meds for $10-$15 a bottle (which many people turn around and sell on the street for $5+ a pill) and my son’s medicine, which he needs in order to EAT costs more than a car note? I don’t understand how this is possible?! And they don’t make a generic for the SoluTabs he has been prescribed. So at the dr tomorrow we will be asking what else we can do, if the dr. feels it is the reflux flaring up again.

snuggly girl after bath

So, because of the possible reflux flare up, the move, teething, etc. Max has just not been taking good naps. On good days he will take 1.5hr naps. On bad days, he sleeps for 20-40 minutes at a time. It’s exhausting for everyone, because it effects everyone. But like I said, about every other day is a good day for him. Then we try to replicate it the next, and it’s awful. I really have no idea what is going on. Hopefully it will smooth out in the next few weeks.

Lexie loves her new gymnastics. It is much different than the gym we went to in AR. Her tot class is in the evenings, and there is a lot happening in the gym at that time. It is really overwhelming for her, and it takes her about 10 minutes to become cooperative and pay attention to what we are doing. She has always been this way; at MDO she stood back and watched the other kids until she was comfortable a few weeks into it. The same went for playing at the Y while I worked out. And also at our play dates. Now instead of quietly standing back and watching, she just wants to go do something else, and won’t pay attention. I think this just comes along with her age, and being overwhelmed. After a few weeks I think she will be more comfortable. She has learned a lot of new, more advanced things, and has also shown the teacher a lot of things she could already do.

She LOVES her new house- her favorite room is the basement. I have set up a little area down there for us to play and learn. It is also plenty big for us to “practice” her gymnastics in the mornings when we can’t go outside. =) Gotta get some of the wiggles out. She is obsessed with Thomas and Friends (although she has’t watched TV since our first week here-more on that in a minute), and to ~~definitely not~~ help out with that situation, a train runs through the corn field on the other side of the house. They all have names from Thomas-Gordon, Charlie, Rose, Emily, etc. All names are the same as her imaginary friends that showed up after Christmas… and are still around. Nap times are now spent talking to them, instead of not napping. But I’ve convinced her to tell them she needs to sleep, so they need to sleep. She tells them no talking, but that lasts all of 15-20 minutes. (hey- I think that’s pretty good for a two year old!)

We have been doing a lot of fun activities; it is a lot easier now that I have a place to keep all our materials and things. I am going to do several separate posts on those.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks around the house:

helping daddy

telling daddy how to do it … no doubt.

good morning!

reading Thomas with Daddy

oh garsh!

sharing her Baby lamb with Mister, and asking for a kiss on the hand

just playing and watching Sissy Lexie

I can sit up really well now!

bath time

Lexie reading to Max (and she got all the words right!)

Scarlet’s new normal- she can see in the back sliding glass door and windows. She and Lexie talk to each other.

Going for a walk

I know- so dang sweet!

This is how they clear the roads out here-they push the snow into our backyard! Lexie liked it though

“Oh- Im going to show daddy I wear his hat!”

Max vs Lilly- the stare down

Before the BIG cut

This is hair after- it now sits right at her shoulders when wet

Good times!

Counter Culture, Anyone? Part One

by Meghan // February 11, 2013 // Comments off

God has been working on me a lot the last year, and I have too. I have had these very strong feelings and passions about life since we found out we were pregnant with Lexie over 2 years ago. I am so blessed that JTom shares those same sentiments; I couldn’t really find anything to describe our parenting style, and then while talking with like minded mamas on a forum, I found it- Counter Culture. It’s pretty much us, to a T. Some things that we do that are counter culture:

We say “no”- our children don’t get anything and everything they want. If they cry and pitch a fit they especially don’t get it
We don’t watch TV. JTom and I watch some television on occasion but in our house the TV is off. Lexie knows a few shows (more than I’d like due to being around other family and friends) and sometimes she watches Thomas the Train. But we limit it to a few times a month
We don’t do Disney. that isn’t to say we will never take our children to Disney World, although I can think of a million other places I’d rather take them … Disney is an overpriced, over commercialized parent trap. Maybe when the kids are older we will visit, but we do not buy a bunch of Disney products or movies, etc.
We pray. As a family. A lot. Much of this is instigated by the two year old herself. One of our family goals this year is to pray as a family more.
We know we are created in His image, and seek to live closely with Him
We don’t believe that today’s “normal” is normal.
We don’t believe that today’s “good” is good.
We don’t believe that certain things come with “childhood.” Sugary foods, not eating healthy meals, playing video games, and bossing parents around are not rights of passage in childhood. They are not part of being a kid. They are for some kids, but not for ours.
We go against the flow
Aren’t afraid to be ourselves, be different

Basically to sum it up, our culture is about self gratification, and we are trying to raise our children against the grain. This may result in the exact same outcome every other family has; I am not saying our way is better or the best. It is just how we do it. We are trying to instill in our children that this life isn’t supposed to be lived just for us, it is supposed to be lived to the Glory of God. That means we don’t always get what we want, what we beg for, or what other people have. It is okay to be different, as a matter of fact, it is GREAT to be different than mainstream society; society today is not a good normal.
What we do offer our kids is love, affection, time spent one on one, special outings, and an occasional splurge. They aren’t deprived; but our society and even people in our family would probably tell you that “having lots of stuff/toys makes kids happy. It’s just who kids are.” No, that is who kids’ are raised to be. That is how society has brought them up. But JTom and I really don’t want that for our kids. They have nice clothes, toys, books …. but they don’t need an excess of it all. Sometimes gifts we receive go back to the store. We would rather use the money for something they need rather than something they don’t even know they want.

J.Tom and I are raising our children as counter culture as we can, and started living this way well before we knew it had a “label.” We seek God and His glory in all we do and try to extend that to our children. Sometimes I think maybe I need to justify myself, my family, or the raising of our children to others, including our own extended family. Then I realize … no, i don’t.

I can explain it, but really I can just refer people to scripture.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2.

Stay tuned for the rest of the series on our family and how we are going against the grain.