17 Months Old // 4 Months Old

Owen had his 4 month checkup and weighed in at 15 lbs 2 oz (54%) and 26.75 in long (95%). He figured out how to roll onto his tummy from his back, so he's rolling over constantly. The only downside is that he spits up whenever he's on his tummy. He also gets tired of being on his tummy pretty quickly, but he hasn't yet figured out that he can roll onto his back when that happens.

Laney is officially walking! She doesn't tip toe as much, and her gait is much more steady and stable. She's unstoppable now. Taking away her toy stroller sealed the deal. We're so proud of her!

We celebrated Owen's first and Laney's second Thanksgiving with Noni and Grandpa this year. They flew to Virginia Beach and stayed with us for a week. They were such good sports about the sleeping arrangements. We don't have an extra bedroom for guests, so we put two mattresses on the floor in the TV room and turned it into their cozy, non-private bedroom. Every morning when Laney woke up, I'd change her diaper and give her a sippy cup filled to the brim with milk (which she chugs in mere minutes), and then she'd toddle into the TV room and crawl into bed to wake up Noni and Grandpa with a loud, excited squeal. I think the three of them loved their morning routine. For Thanksgiving, Noni made her exceptionally delicious turkey, green beans, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Owen slept through it, and Laney woke up from her nap just in time to sit with us for a few minutes and taste her first Thanksgiving dinner. We gave her a little bit of everything and we were so excited to watch her try it. In her typical picky toddler way, she ate none of it. She lifted bits of food and squished it between her fingers, then dropped it onto her tray or threw it onto the floor. After rejecting everything, I offered her a small piece of Noni's cranberry bread, which she inhaled.

Over the past few weeks, Owen has been sleeping pretty poorly. He had gotten to the point where he slept through the night and I thought we were making such great progress, and then he reverted back into a newborn's sleeping patterns. He was waking up every 1.5-2 hours to eat at night, and every time I laid him back in his crib, he'd wake up and need to be nursed to sleep again. At first, I thought it might be a growth spurt, but after awhile it seemed to become his new routine. After a few weeks of barely any sleep, it was completely exhausting for me, and probably for him as well. I decided to try a complete overhaul of Owen's daily and nightly routine. I started by cutting back on my own coffee intake. Even though I was only drinking one cup of coffee in the morning, I figured there was a small chance that the caffeine in my breastmilk might be affecting his sleep. I cut back to 3/4 cup, then to 1/2 cup, but didn't notice any difference in how well he slept. Then I decided to cut out his naps in the swing. It was time for him to start napping in his crib so the he could: a) associate his crib as his sleeping place, and b) stop relying on the swinging motion for rest. We bought a crib and assembled it immediately so I wouldn't have to bend down so far to put him in his travel crib (it hurt my exhausted back muscles and I seemed to wake him up every time I set him down because it was difficult to lay him down carefully so low on his mattress). We'll see how this goes…

Looking at pictures of herself on Grandpa's iPad

Out for a stroll on the Boardwalk

Owen loooooves jumping!

Finally walking…so finally able to start wearing dresses!

16.5 Months Old // 3.5 Months Old

Owen has been reaching out and grabbing things much more. He's very animated and so interested in anything that falls within his reach. He throws his hands out to touch it and opens his mouth right away, ready to chew on it. He's also playing with his feet quite a bit and chews on his hands constantly. He's a drool machine! Drool pours out of his mouth all day long. I've been putting a bib on him to catch all of it, otherwise I'm changing drool-soaked outfits every couple of hours.

Poor Owen has had a diaper rash that won't quit. It started about a month ago as a yeast rash, and over-the-counter ointments weren't quite doing the trick. I took him to our wonderful pediatrician in Virginia Beach, and she prescribed something a little bit stronger. After 3 weeks of frequent diaper changes, prescription ointment, open diaper sessions multiple times each day, and warm baths with baking soda, the very stubborn rash finally started looking better. Then the rash came back with a vengeance! On our 3rd visit with the pediatrician that week, we realized his skin is super sensitive and it was reacting from being too dry. I cut back on the baths, started slathering Aquaphor on him at all diaper changes, and one week later his skin looked so much better! Note to self - Owen's skin is very sensitive. I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Now that Laney is 16.5 months old and still running around on her tip toes while she pushes her stroller, I realized it might be time to ditch the stroller. She's using it to get around quickly, rather than standing up and learning how to walk without it. Brad and I waited until she was in bed for the night and hid the stroller in our bedroom. The next morning, the first thing she did was grab her baby doll and crawl around the house, looking for her stroller. She started to whine and cry when she couldn't find it, so we distracted her with other toys and tried to encourage her to walk on her own. It actually worked! She definitely started walking more, but she still needs to break the habit of standing up on her tip toes.

Blocks! We only break them out on rainy days so they don't lose their appeal.

Almost too big to nap in his swing. What will we do?

Laney thinks that book looks like a lot of fun...

…so she climbed in.

Buds

Thumb sucker extraordinaire

FaceTime with Noni

Typical tip toes! That's why we had to ditch the stroller. It's pretty cute, though...

Big boy!

Every morning, Papa lures Laney in with the enticing offer to watch videos. It's his best way to get her to cuddle with him.

16 Months Old // 3 Months Old

I know I've said it before, but Laney absolutely loves country music. Lately, we've been turning on the "Today's Country" music channel on TV and leaving it on all day. If I turn on anything other than her favorite music, Laney throws a little bit of a fit. She'll sit in the TV room and cry until I turn it back to country. As soon as she hears the music, the tears stop and she starts dancing. She has some new favorite songs - anything by Luke Bryan, "Leave the Night On" by Sam Hunt, and "Day Drinking" by Little Big Town. When she hears them come on, she stops everything she's doing, gets a huge grin on her face and busts a move. She came up with a few new moves, including (but not limited to): a back-and-forth sway, throwing her hands up and down, and a hilarious move where she spins in a big circle.

Laney loves pushing around her toy stroller. She stands up on her tip toes and cruises around the house with it, singing or squealing. She also chases Cash with it, which he doesn't love but he's getting used to it. She usually puts her baby doll in it, but sometimes she fills it with whatever her favorite toy is at the moment. Sometimes it's her sippy cup or a new toy. I've seen her pushing around the stroller filled with a few blocks, some plastic letters from her Fisher Price house, one of Owen's burp cloths, and one of her papa's Ugg slippers sticking out of the top.

We just celebrated Halloween - Owen's first and Laney's second! Laney was a sweet little bumble bee (thanks to Hannah Stuhr for handing it down), and Owen was a ferocious lion (thanks to Laney, who went as a lion with a pink bow last year). Laney loved dressing up in her costume and played in it all afternoon. Owen wasn't sure what to think about his costume, but he didn't protest much.

Owen has started giggling! It's the most darling little half grunt/half laugh ever. I discovered it while I was playing patty cake with him. I was making him clap his hands to the beat, and after each line he would let out a little giggle with a huge smile on his face. Since then, he has been giggling to nursery rhymes and songs that his papa makes up and sings to him.

Owen has also discovered the excitement of putting things in his mouth. He's able to reach out, grasp nearby objects, and stick them right in. The amount of drool he produces while he's tasting his toys (or even just his hands) is quite impressive.

Snuggle time first thing in the morning is the best!

A quick hangout session with papa before bed

They both still love going to the aquarium!

Tough morning for Laney. Right after Daylight Savings, she woke up around 5:00am. She was so tired and upset! I turned on Sesame Street for the first time and she sat in this exact position, mesmerized by Elmo, for about 5 minutes straight.

 She loved wearing her headband … for about 1.5 seconds, and then she ripped it off her head and gave it back to me.

 Bath time is still Laney's favorite time

Owen's 3 Month pictures with a cameo by Delaney

Laney is smitten with Owen! Recently, I've been noticing it more and more. First thing in the morning when she wakes up, I take her out of her crib, and she looks at me and says "O!" He's on her mind before she has even started her day. She has to say "hi" to him right away every time she wakes up from a nap. She loves to gently hold his hands, and she constantly gives him snuggles throughout the day. He loves her, too! He loves watching her and smiles every time she's near him. They have a very special bond.

As I was taking Owen's 3 month pictures, Laney decided to get in on the action. She had to know what Owen was doing, and the pictures were too cute not to share.

Ready for picture time!

In comes one hand

Sneaking in a quick snuggle

Checking out the 3 month sticker

Holding his hand

Rolling in to get closer to her baby brother

I adore my babies.

15.5 Months Old // 2.5 Months Old

First things first…the BIG news for Laney: she took her first steps! The day after we arrived in Virginia Beach, Laney was standing next to the couch and walked to the coffee table! She took about 5 little steps with flat feet and cheered for herself afterwards (along with Brad, Noni, Grandpa, and me). It was such an exciting moment - one I've been waiting for since the day she was born! Since then, she's been practicing quite a bit and is able to take up to 10 or 12 slow, cautious steps on her own. We're so proud of her.

She learned the sign language for "milk," and she's starting to repeat words that we say. Time for us to clean up our language! She can't pronounce words perfectly yet ("hello" sounds like "ewwo"), but Brad and I are able to understand everything she's saying.

Brad had a team dinner right after we arrived to welcome all of the guys, so we brought the kids for a family night out. Brad was the only player that brought kids, and the other dads on the team were holding Laney while telling stories about their own kids. Both Laney and Owen did really well, considering we arrived at 7 and dinner didn't start until 7:30pm (Laney's bedtime). She was very well-behaved, and Owen slept in his carseat for an entire hour after we arrived. Around 8:00, Owen woke up hungry and Laney suddenly became very tired and fussy. She didn't want to eat or be held, she just wanted to go to bed. We quickly packed everything up and were the first ones to leave.

Ready to meet the team!

The excitement was too much for big O.

Laney was a lovely little lady at dinner.

Right now, this is Laney's typical routine: She wakes up between 6:30-7:00am every morning and has milk right away. Around 8:15, she has Cheerios and a breakfast smoothie. She doesn't like iron-fortified oatmeal and I was worried she wasn't getting enough iron, so papa had the brilliant idea to sneak it into a smoothie. It consists of milk, iron-fortified oatmeal, peach/mango-flavored fish oil, and frozen strawberries. Sometimes I sneak in some pureed prunes if her tummy needs it. She loves her smoothie! She's ready for a nap by 8:30/9. Then she's up again around 10:30, plays for 3 hours and takes her 2nd nap of the day around 1:30. She'll sleep until 3 or 4 and then it's playtime until bedtime at 7:30. 

Between Laney and Owen, I'm changing a minimum of 12 diapers per day. Usually, I change 15 each day. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is rotating between feeding each child and then changing their diapers. There are days when Owen eats every hour, Laney sits in her high chair and spends 30-45 minutes eating each meal, and they both have multiple #2s…those are very busy days for me (and for them!). 

BIG news for Owen: he slept through the night! On Oct 14th, at 12 weeks 3 days old, he went to bed at 10:00pm and woke up at 6:11am! What a champ! It was such an exciting morning, knowing he's now capable of sleeping long stretches. Laney woke up once every night until she was 11 1/2 months old, so I know it might be awhile before Owen consistently puts in long hours at night. But I know I'm out of the toughest period of little-to-no sleep, and that's a pretty great feeling!

Ready to shut it down for the night

Owen is holding his head up very well, and he just moved into size 3 diaper territory. He's so long! He'll be too long for his 3-6 month clothes very soon. He's really showing his love for his big sister. Anytime he sees her, he smiles and kicks his little feet really hard. When she stands next to him and talks to him, he grins from ear to ear. If she hears him crying, she goes over to him and snuggles her head against his and it truly cheers him up! He stops crying and starts smiling! Unless he's hungry…then nothing calms him down except food. Seeing the two of them together is the highlight of my day, every day.

Morning playtime

 Both kids absolutely love the aquarium!

Hanging out together

Afternoon at the beach

Virginia Beach fall festival - Laney's first pony ride! She wasn't sure at first, but ended up having a blast. She even tried to ride Cash like a pony when we got home.

We had such a fun afternoon!

Owen liked being carried around better than hanging out in the stroller.

Hello, blue eyes! It's the lighting - I didn't do any editing to this picture!

My little buddy (in the shade)

The Fall Festival was so much fun!