19.5 Months Old // 6.5 Months Old

All of a sudden, Laney has been eating much more food. I'm not sure if her appetite has increased or if she just became more interested in food, but she's eating a wider variety of things (including meat), and she's finishing what we put on her tray. As her mama, it feels so gratifying to me when she has finished a big meal. I've been so worried that she wasn't eating enough, and now I feel reassured that she's getting the nutrition she needs. She still loves her fruits and vegetables, and she can't get enough string cheese. She has also gotten a lot better at using a spoon and a fork. It's still a messy meal if she feeds herself, but she has so much fun and feels like a big girl with her utensils. Worth noting: she insists on feeding herself yogurt and throws a full blown tantrum if I take her spoon and yogurt away before she's finished.

She is such a little daredevil. I was feeding Owen lunch in the high chair, and Laney climbed onto a chair to sit at the dining room table and pretend she was eating a meal like an adult. I ran to get my phone to take a picture of her, and when I came back, she was on top of the dining room table! She never ceases to surprise me. I told her to stay there and walked towards her to show her how to carefully get down, when she suddenly got down on her tummy, scooted to the edge of the table, and dropped down onto the floor. I think she thought she'd drop onto the chair seat first, so it surprised her that it was a longer fall. But she was totally fine and ran away, smiling.

She loves being thrown high into the air. Lucky for her, papa can toss her up really high!

She also loves horseback riding (sorry, Cash)

Owen is very good about going down for a nap as long as his tummy is full. I give him a 6- or 7-oz bottle before each nap, and he usually either falls right asleep or talks to himself until he falls asleep. Sometimes he cries as I leave the room, but it usually only lasts a minute or two. He'll wake up from a nap and eat some oatmeal or pureed fruits and veggies, then play for 2 hours until he's ready for another bottle and nap. At bedtime (around 7:30), he needs to be rocked to sleep. He hasn't done very well if we leave him awake in his crib at night. He isn't ready for bedtime sleep training yet, but we'll try that soon.

He's becoming much more talkative and animated. He's good about playing on his stomach for long periods of time. He's spitting up a lot less when he's on his tummy, which is great. He's also becoming more mobile. Now, not only does he roll, but he also spins around 360 degrees on his stomach and rolls in any direction he wants. If he sees a toy that he wants to play with, he has figured out how to get to it. He especially loves rolling off of his blanket onto the hardwood floor. He smacks the floor with his hands or bangs a toy on it to make a loud sound. Just banging things on the floor can keep him entertained for a long time.

I still have no idea how he ends up in places like this.

Mommy + daughter lunch date at Panera (she's signing "apple")… 

...and trip to the aquarium!

On chilly days, Laney gets a professional blowout after her bath 

(this is as professional as mama gets)

Static attack!

Bath time for the big guy after he tinkled all over himself

A Trip with Laney to the Baby Boutique

I just found out at the last minute that in two days, there will be a baby shower for two pregnant wives on the team. My only opportunity to shop for baby gifts was this afternoon. Brad was exhausted from a long morning at the rink, so he asked me to take Laney shopping with me. I thought it would be a fun mommy + daughter date, and I pictured us walking into the store together, me holding her little hand. I imagined us looking at adorable, teeny baby clothes and maybe picking out a toy for Laney as a little treat.

I don't know what I was thinking. I know Laney's personality quite well, and it does not fit with the image I dreamed up of our afternoon date. Laney is very sweet...she's gentle with Owen and Cash, she's loving with her baby doll, and she gives hugs and kisses with a beaming smile. She's also smart and strong-willed...she knows which of my buttons she can press, she knows what she should or shouldn't be doing, and she knows when she can get away with something. As much as she challenges me sometimes, I absolutely love that about her. Whenever she's testing her boundaries with me, I try as hard as I can to hide my smile and giggles from her so I don't encourage her behavior. And she's testing her boundaries all of the time. She definitely keeps me on my toes!

Today, walking from the car to the boutique, I should've gotten my first inclination that things weren't going to go as planned. I was holding her hand as we walked to the sidewalk, and she ripped her hand out of mine. She wanted to walk by herself, unassisted. I get it, Laney, you're a big girl…but we're crossing a road and I need to make sure you don't run in front of a car. So I picked her up and carried her into the store. As we opened the door, she immediately wanted to get down and I realized what a mistake I made bringing her with me. There were toys everywhere! Low, tiny tables filled with neatly folded t-shirts and onesies! Small baskets on the floor with baby booties! Laney started kicking her legs and flailing her arms, insisting I put her down. I figured I'd have to put her down eventually, so I might as well do it now and see what she does.

Her first stop was the t-shirt table. She picked up one shirt and gently put it back down. (Maybe this won't be so bad?) Then she picked up three t-shirts, held them in the air for a second, and threw them on the floor. (And so it begins.) I said "No no Laney, don't touch the t-shirts" and apologized to the sales clerk as I refolded them and put them back. She assured me it was okay right as I noticed Laney picking up a pair of shoes. I ran after her and put the shoes back as she ran across the store to the toy section and picked up a stuffed bunny. I grabbed her and picked her up, but she wasn't interested in being held when there was so much stuff to explore. She screamed and thrashed around, and I realized we'd be making an even bigger scene if I continued to hold her, so I put her back down. It was time to quickly pick out some gifts and leave! I ran over to the newborn section and left Laney by the toys (which was about 15 feet away from me - the store was tiny). I grabbed some sleepers and turned around to see her carrying the bunny in one arm and a giant bag of plastic bowling pins in the other. She was busy, casually walking towards the back of the store with her arms full, so I started looking through the baby books. 20 seconds later, I peeked around the bookshelf to check on her. She dropped the bowling pins and cleared off an entire shelf of neatly folded onesies. I ran over and picked her up, carried her back to the toy section, and quickly tried to fold the onesies and put them back on the shelf. When I finished, I looked over at her and saw her standing next to the first table full of t-shirts that she stopped at when we first entered the store. Her hand was resting on top of a stack of shirts, and her eyes were locked on mine. She knew she wasn't supposed to touch them, and she was waiting for me to focus my attention on her. As soon as I started moving towards her, she picked up a big stack of shirts, threw them on the floor, and ran away from me, screaming. I'm sure the boutique staff was not amused. I finished picking out gifts and gave my credit card to the cashier so I could chase Laney down, pick her up, and carry her to the front of the store before she did any more damage. We quickly left and I learned quite a few lessons from this little adventure.

19 Months Old // 6 Months Old

Owen had his 6 month checkup and weighed in at 18 lbs 1 oz (63%), 29" long (>99%…off the charts!), and his head circumference is 17.75" (85%). He grew so much in length that his pediatrician asked the nurse to measure him a second time. She didn't believe the first measurement and figured the nurse made a mistake. Sure enough, the measurement was correct. He's so long, he didn't even fit on the baby scale. His legs hung off the end and it was difficult getting his accurate weight. He's such a big boy! Not in a chubby way, just tall and solid. He has completely outgrown his 9-month clothes, and I'm squeezing his arms and legs into 12-month sleepers.

His growth chart

6 months old and proud of it!

Not only is he bigger, but he's also much more active. He's almost able to sit up on his own. He isn't able to crawl yet, but he's very good at rolling and can very quickly log roll across the living room. Every time he's on the floor and I leave the room to change Laney's diaper, by the time I come back he's always on the other side of the room. Needless to say, I can't leave him unattended anymore. He's way too quick! If I'm unable to watch him, even for a couple seconds, I have to put him in his jumper or strap him into his bouncy seat. 

The first time I left Owen unattended, he was playing with those toys on the blanket. I came back and found him here:

Another time, I came back and found him under this chair. I still have no idea how he got there.

His schedule is becoming much more predictable. He wakes up around 7:30am, takes 3 naps during the day (each is about 2 hours long), and he goes to sleep around 7:30pm. He only wakes up once or twice during the night for a bottle, which has been incredible for me!! I'm finally catching up on sleep! He has solid foods after each nap, and a 6 oz bottle right before he falls asleep for each nap. He has one cute little quirk - while he's drinking a bottle, he loves to reach his little left hand up to rub his head. He closes his eyes and massages his forehead and scalp. It's the most adorable thing.

Laney has really started to enjoy dressing up! She just got a few hats and bracelets and wears them all day long. She has also taken on a motherly role with the baby doll she got when Owen was born. When I feed Owen, she feeds her baby. When I burp Owen, she burps her baby. She hums a song to her baby and puts it in its crib for a nap. She offers the baby sips from her sippy cup. She's such a good little mama to her baby!

She carries her baby everywhere she goes.

 She also puts her baby in the jumper whenever Owen isn't using it.

She loves cooking in her kitchen. She washes her hands in the sink, makes coffee constantly and always offers us a cup, and she loves making food with her spatula and frying pan! Deciding what to make next...

She also looooooves playing outside. She screams, runs around, and just discovered the joy of digging in dirt. 

 Not sure about the dirt at first, but she quickly decided it's the most fun thing ever.

65 degrees in February? Time for a bike ride with papa! (She's looking b-b-b-b-b-bad to the bone)

So much fun playing! Time to refuel...

18.5 Months Old // 5.5 Months Old

At 5 1/2 months old, Owen got his first tooth! Actually, he got his first teeth - both on the same day! On January 11th, he woke up with a tooth in the middle on the bottom, and later that day a second tooth popped out right next to it! The poor guy had quite a bit of teething pain (understandably) and wasn't sleeping well for several days before they made their appearance. He was drooling like crazy, gnawing on anything he could get his hands on, and only seemed to calm down when he was able to chew on a refrigerated teething ring. At one point, I tried to give him a 1/2 dose of Tylenol to see if that would help. It always seemed to help Laney, so I figured I'd give it a shot. He really didn't like the taste of it, and one second after I gave it to him, he projectile vomited all over himself and his changing pad. Yikes! Poor guy! Guess that wasn't going to work… (I've tried giving him Tylenol on two more occasions after that to see if it would have the same effect. It did. Projectile vomit everywhere. No more Tylenol for Owen.)

Owen has also started eating solid foods, and he LOVES it! He can't get enough! He gets very excited anytime the spoon approaches his mouth and opens his mouth as wide as it goes. His first food was rice cereal, then green beans, then sweet potatoes. He loves it all. He makes a little "mmmmm" sound after every bite and slaps his tray with excitement. Sometimes he squeals between bites. I'm pretty sure it must be blissful to him - I've never seen him happier.

 Checking out the fancy equipment

Feed me!

Laney, on the other hand, is as picky as ever. She will only willingly eat cheese, some vegetables, and fruit, and only eats tiny amounts of it. She refuses to eat all meat and fish, I've tried some crazy things to get her to eat protein. For example, I've taken cherry tomatoes, cut them in half, and squeezed out the seeds to form tiny little empty pockets. Then I dice turkey into the tiniest pieces possible and stuff it into the pockets in the tomatoes. It's ridiculous and incredibly time consuming, but it worked! I know this is just a phase, so I'll do whatever it takes to feed her a variety of foods until she grows out of it.

Laney has been repeating more and more words. She is probably able to say a lot more than she's saying right now, but she chooses which words she wants to say. Right now, she's using a lot more sign language and signs much more than she speaks. We've been using the Signing Time videos, and she absolutely loves them. She learns so much from them! Sometimes she surprises me by signing words I didn't even know she could sign! I'm not sure how useful a lot of these signs are right now, but she enjoys signing all of them.

She's saying:   eat   water    shoes   keys   bird   Mama   Dada   Cash   Noni   banana   cheese   cookie   dirty   hot   

She's signing:   eat   more   all done   milk   water   ball   cat   bird   dog   flower   fish   car   airplane   sleep   baby   shoes   train   teddy bear   your turn   my turn   please   thank you   book   no   drink   potty   wash hands   bath   go   apple   cookie   bread   cracker   cold   daytime  

Owen has started paying very close attention Cash and giggles whenever Cash is running around or shaking his blanket. His first giggle fit happened while he was standing in his jumper and Cash shook his blanket across the living room. Since then, it's been easy to get him to burst into full-on belly laughter. He's very ticklish and has quite a silly personality. Using different voices or crazy facial expressions always makes him laugh. He's just a very easy going little guy. He's almost always smiling!

Beautiful day in January! Family stroll on the Boarwalk

Two peas in a pod

Representing Wisco while watching the Packers in the Playoffs

This is what Brad's naps look like these days (Laney's saying "shhhh!")