Aedan: 42 Months, Week 5
Owen: 2 Months, Week 2 (11 Weeks)
Sunday was a sad day for everyone because we had to leave our vacation house and head back home. Samantha, Aedan, and Alaina all cried when it was time to leave. We spent the morning getting everything packed up and letting the kids hang out for a little while before heading out. I had to feed Owen again before leaving, so everyone else left before us. We got on the road a little after 10:30, planning on driving until Gaylord to stop for lunch before continuing on our way. Owen was awake and looking around for the first part of our drive, but then when he got tired, it was more difficult to get him to fall asleep. I sat in the back with him, and he finally fell asleep when we weren't too far from stopping, maybe getting a half an hour nap in. We hoped he would stay asleep as we went into Panera to eat lunch, but he isn't very good at staying asleep once he isn't moving anymore or if he is taken in and out of the car, that usually wakes him up. Ben tried to hold him and keep him happy for awhile to give me a chance to eat my food, but Owen wasn't interested in that, so I tried to use my cover and feed him in the restaurant. He nursed for a few minutes, but not very long. I finished my lunch and then took Owen back out to the car to try and nurse him again. I didn't want him to not nurse because he was distracted and then be angry in the car; however, it has been much more difficult to get him interested in nursing lately, especially if there is a lot going on during the day. Or, he will nurse for like five minutes on one side and then be done, so I am always afraid that he is not getting enough to eat.
Samantha and Aedan had a good lunch, and it was nice eating at a restaurant like Panera again. I wish we had more options for quick service food like that up in Sault Ste. Marie. Anyways, we got back in the car and after hanging out for awhile, we decided it was nap time for everyone. Samantha fought me on that quite a bit, but everyone was tired from our Thanksgiving away from home, and we all needed a little rest. However, even though Owen was very tired from only having napped half an hour that morning, he did not fall asleep easily. He cried pretty hard for awhile, making it a pretty miserable trip for everyone for about ten minutes. I tried using a pacifier with him, but he doesn't know how to hold it in his mouth very well, so he just kept pushing it out with his tongue. We thought maybe we were going to need to stop and swing his car seat back and forth to get him to fall asleep before continuing on, but even though I was frustrated, I kept trying different things to get him to calm down and fall asleep. Ultimately, the thing that worked was me patting him on the chest, right around where his chest clip was. I think it was the constant movement, as well as my touch to reassure him that he was not alone. However, I then had to keep patting him the rest of the trip to keep him asleep. If I stopped, he started stirring again, and I didn't want him to wake up and start crying again. Both Samantha and Aedan had fallen asleep in the back seat, Izzy was asleep on her bed in the front seat, and we had a nice, quiet car ride for awhile.
Overall, our trip in the car went pretty well, but there were definitely times that were a little crazy. It will help some not having Izzy the next time we travel, and I hope that in another month Owen will be more settled in the car. Hopefully his nursing will improve, and he won't just eat for less than ten minutes on one side and be done. And hopefully he will sleep for longer than 30-45 minutes at a time so that we can get a larger stretch of driving done when we are going down to Indiana, to Chicago, and then back home again. (He also has been waking up more at night and nursing for longer, like 45 minutes at a time.) It will be stressful, and there is a lot of me that is not looking forward to all the driving we will have to do over Christmas. Now I just pray that the weather will cooperate with us for when we have to drive so that bad roads don't make our trip take even longer. Even we get tired of sitting in the car for so many hours, so I can imagine it's even harder for a baby.
It was nice getting home mid-afternoon on Sunday because it allowed us the chance to get everything unpacked and put away, as well as our mound of laundry started. As soon as Aedan came in from the car, he sat on the couch and said, "I wish it could be Thanksgiving again." Boy do these kids love spending time with family. I am so glad we get to see people during these special times of the year, but sometimes when we get back home, the distance feels even farther, and sometimes my heart yearns to be closer to family again. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of our kids.
Owen did better with nursing once we got back home, so part of me wondered if it had anything to do with just being in a different place, having a different routine, and having much more noise and commotion than we are used to. He nursed for quite awhile after dinner. Then, when I was putting him to bed, he was fussing and crying quite a bit, even though he was hungry and tired. I unwrapped him from the Velcro swaddle wrap, and he instantly calmed down, so I decided to put him in a sleep sack instead. It was his first time not being swaddled at night, so I was interested to see how it would go. Then that night I did some research of other things that could keep his arms swaddled, but were bigger. The SwaddleMe wraps I had been using were getting way to small for him, and sometimes it was hard for me to even pull the top flap over far enough for it to attach to the Velcro. I found some Halo Sleep Sacks, like what we already have used in the past, but these have the zipper that zips up from the bottom as well as flaps that Velcro over the top to keep his hands swaddled so he doesn't startle and wake himself up at night. The sleep sacks looked much bigger, giving him more room to stretch his legs out, but still have the security of being swaddled. I ordered one cotton one and one fleece one to try out. Owen did okay not swaddled that night, but he woke up more than normal, and he stirred more after nursing, taking longer to settle him back to sleep. After that night I decided he wasn't quite ready to not be swaddled yet.
Monday morning was back to our normal routine of Samantha going to school, Ben going to campus, and Aedan, Owen, and I going to Walmart to do our weekly grocery trip. Owen woke up three times during the night, so I was pretty tired on Monday morning, but we had a successful shopping trip. Aedan had a hard time going back to it just being him, Owen, and me. He kept begging me to play with him, and some days it's just so hard because I have so many things to do. Especially on shopping days, I have to feed Owen, get him ready, get our shopping stuff together, go shopping, get everything unloaded and put away, feed Owen again, and by that time it's usually lunch time and nap time for Aedan, not giving me very much time to play with him. In fact, I took some extra time to play with Aedan after lunch that day, but then Owen ended up falling asleep on my shoulder as I played with Aedan, then making it much harder to get him down for a nap in his crib after putting Aedan down for his nap. Sometimes I feel bad, and I wish I could give Aedan more individual attention. I do miss just sitting and playing with him, and I'm looking forward to being able to do that more as Owen starts getting into more of a routine with a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
All Thanksgiving break Samantha was wiggling her other top tooth. She was so excited that it would fall out soon, and I knew it happened at school as soon as I saw her walking down the driveway. She smiled and then covered up her mouth so I couldn't see her teeth until she came in the door. Now she has both top front teeth missing, as well as another tooth on the bottom. I posted her picture on Facebook with the caption, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!" She was so proud to have her picture taken so I could send it to Aunt Jeni to show to Alaina. :)
J
He was wanting to eat, so he started to get a little grumpy when she was holding him, but she did a great job of talking to him, bouncing him, and helping him be happy. She is a great big sister.
Each week Samantha gets a book from school to practice at home. This was a book about Louis Braille. She had never read this book before, and Ben was amazed at how well she did reading some pretty tricky words for the first time. Here is a little video of her reading.
So since Owen splashed around during bath time so much last week, I moved his baby bath to the tub for Monday night's bath. Here is a video of him splashing around. He is so active in the water, kicking his legs and moving his arms. I love these little baby movements that seem so random and without control, but it's jut the beginning of him learning how his body works, and enjoying the feeling of the warm water splashing around.
As Monday night went on, Ben was really starting to not feel well. He tried laying around and resting after the kids were in bed, but he felt really sick every time he stood up and walked around. It was another difficult night with Owen, starting with when I put him to bed and he nursed for a long time but then pooped, so I had to change his diaper, waking him up again, and making it more difficult to get him settled back down to sleep afterwards. Then, he was awake again a little after 12:30 and then again around 3:45, which is when I heard Ben throwing up in the bathroom. I felt so bad for him and hoped that he wasn't coming down with something really bad. With there being only two weeks left in the semester, and being a professor, he really can't miss classes, but he also has to take it easy and let himself get better, too.
Even though Owen woke me up and kept me up more than normal Monday night, he slept in until almost 8:45, which was nice for me because I was able to get things done around the house, especially since Ben stayed in bed longer that morning after getting sick overnight. I nursed Owen for a few minutes, but then had to stop him so we could get going to MOPS. I planned on just nursing him more there, but he wasn't the happiest that I stopped him from eating and stuck him in his car seat. Ahh, the things third babies have to deal with.
I was anxious to hear how Ben was doing that morning. He had important meetings to go to, as well as classes to teach, and since he hadn't thrown up at all since the middle of the night, he stubbornly decided to go do those things in the morning. He felt like he couldn't miss them, but then they wiped him out. He was still pretty weak and hadn't eaten or drank much for fear he would get sick again. Luckily, he came home that afternoon to nap and cancelled his 3:00 class.
Owen hadn't nursed very long each time that morning, so when we got home from MOPS, he was very hungry and ended up eating for almost 40 minutes. That pushed back Aedan eating lunch and taking a nap, but he was pretty patient, understanding that I couldn't do those things when Owen needed to eat. However, he was a happy guy after getting his tummy full. When I put Aedan to bed, he often wants Owen to lay down next to him on his pillow so I can read books to both of them. These brothers are so cute together. Aedan is really warming up to the idea of being a big brother, is always willing to help me, and loves to share with Owen and give him hugs. Here he is sharing his precious Happy Bear with Owen, even though he knew Owen would try to put it in his mouth and eat it. I can't wait to see their bond grow and strengthen as Owen gets older and Aedan can actually play with him with toys and even help feed him baby food. I'm so glad that they will have each other, as brothers and as friends.
Since Ben got sick overnight, I didn't feel like taking all three kids to small group by myself, and other people weren't able to make it as well, so we decided to cancel small group for that night, giving us a chance to just relax together as a family at home. Ben still was not feeling great, even though he hadn't thrown up again. He was slowly working on eating food to see how his stomach could handle it, but I tried to keep the kids occupied so he could rest and hopefully feel more back to normal for Wednesday. Ben was also dealing with some discouraging news as well as craziness at school with restructuring and the busyness of the end of the semester. He was having a rough week, and it was only Tuesday.
Samantha's school had an event where you could choose three books for free to take home. We went last year, and they had pretty good selection of books. Who can turn down free books? Originally, we were going to all go together, but Ben stayed home since he was still not feeling well. Aedan found a Spider-Man book and an Iron Man book, and Samantha got a couple Magic Tree House books to read. They were excited to have their books read to them after dinner that evening. :) Of course, Aedan had to put his Spider-Man costume on, but really, he wears it most every day anyways.
On Wednesdays we usually go to the library, but they don't have story time anymore until after the new year. I offered that we could still go there and play, but Aedan just wanted to stay home, which was fine by me. It gave me more time to just sit and play with Aedan while Owen took his morning nap, and we didn't have to rush out of the house and do certain things at certain times. It was nice just spending this time together, and I need to do that more often, just spend mornings at home, giving Aedan the one-on-one attention that he so desperately craves.
Here is Owen playing on his floor gym that morning, batting and cooing at his toys.
Aedan has been playing with his "Rescue Bots" every day lately. He started with building them out of Legos and has since moved on to using vehicles we already had in the house, so a firetruck for Heatwave, a helicopter for Blades, the Batmobile for Chase, and a digger truck for Boulder. He wanted to build the Griffin Rock Firehouse, which we did out of Mega Blocks, but that didn't work very well and it didn't have a door or a roof. I was about to throw this diaper box away and realized it would make the perfect Firehouse. I cut out one side to make a door, taped the edges to make it sturdy, and he was so excited to put his Rescue Bots inside. Now his bots could meet at the Firehouse before being sent out on missions. It's not the real thing, but he doesn't care. He's having a blast and being creative with the toys and things we already have around the house.
Aedan has been fighting his naps more and more lately. It used to be that he would fight it every once in awhile, but now it's happening almost every day. Definitely every day I have to go in his room and tell him to be quiet and go to sleep, and usually that's all it takes and he will go to sleep fairly quickly after that. However, there are some days when he fights going to sleep all afternoon. He's not like Samantha who would get out of her bed and play or try to sneak books into her bed. He stays in his bed the entire time (at least that I know of, since I don't hear him walking around or playing), but he will be talking, singing, kicking, and wiggling around. I honestly don't know how he lays in his bed doing nothing for so long. I was just about to go in and just let him get up, but I discovered he had already fallen asleep, probably at like 3:45, the little stinker. It's difficult to know what to do with his naps, because just like Samantha, I don't think he's ready to stop napping yet, especially since he wakes up at 6:15-6:30 every morning and lays in his bed for an hour at night talking to himself before finally falling asleep. However, he then fights falling asleep for nap time for so long, that he ends up sleeping too late in the evening, which then probably makes is more difficult for him to fall asleep at bedtime. I don't know what the best solution is. I try as hard as I can to get him down for his nap earlier so that he doesn't sleep at late, but when we takes over an hour to finally fall asleep, it doesn't make much difference sometimes.
I actually ended up pumping on Wednesday morning because Owen didn't eat very much and I decided I was going to try using a bottle that evening when I went out to dinner with the ladies from my Bible Study. Owen fell asleep in his car seat on our way to the restaurant, and I rocked his car seat for awhile in an attempt to keep him sleeping, which he did until our food arrived. I took him out and held him on my lap while I ate and talked with the other ladies. We tried a Japanese restaurant, and although I wasn't brave enough to order any sushi, I did get a chicken hibachi dish, which was really good. Owen was pretty happy just hanging out on my lap, and I waited until he was really showing signs of being hungry before trying the bottle with him. At first, he just kept pushing the nipple of the bottle out with his tongue, giving me a strange look like, "What is this weird thing you keep putting in my mouth?" He drank a little bit of it, and then Denise tried feeding him for awhile too, in case it was weird for Owen to take a bottle from me since he could smell me. Overall, he didn't drink too much of the bottle, but he drank enough to make himself content until we got home for the evening. I want to keep trying bottles with him to get him used to taking one, so that way if I ever want to go out, Ben can take care of him even if he is hungry and needs to eat.
On Thursday morning there was a MOPS play date at McDonald's. At first Aedan said he didn't want to go, which surprised me, but I kind of forced us to go. We had stayed home on Wednesday, and I wanted him to get out and play with other kids just as much as I wanted to get out and talk with other moms. I was glad that we went because there were lots of people there, and two boys that Aedan really enjoyed playing with, Gavin and Ruger. They had a great time running around and playing in the Playscape. He was having so much fun that he didn't really want to leave when it was time. I told him we will definitely have to invite these boys over to play sometime. It's fun for Aedan to have time with some friends his age, and I'm so glad that we have these consistent MOPS play dates to go to where he can play with other kids.
As the week came to an end, I was glad to see the weekend. I was feeling kind of overwhelmed and frustrated this week. I lost my temper a lot with the kids, and I found myself getting very flustered, like when Owen's crying and I am trying to help Aedan or get him down for a nap, and he isn't being helpful. Or, when we are trying to get out of the house and Owen is crying, Izzy is barking, and Aedan just says, "I can't" about everything I ask him to do. Or, when I try to actually go to the bathroom and then come out and Izzy is eating a toy or Aedan knocks something over or the kids are arguing about something. It has been very difficult for me to be patient lately, and I don't like it. Things are stressful and busy with three kids, but I don't want to take that out on the kids, or on Ben. This is definitely something I am praying about and want to be cognizant of, as I see it is a problem and an area of weakness for me.
However, even when things are crazy and I feel discouraged, I am blessed to be able to stay home to take care of my kids, and to them, I am enough, even if I feel like I am never enough for everyone.
Here is Owen in the pack and play that morning upon waking up. Before he was six weeks, I put him to bed in his crib in his room a couple of times. Then, after a couple weeks, I started nursing him in the rocking chair at night and laying him in his crib for the first stretch of the night. Since our rooms are connected in the basement, it is really easy for me to hear him when he wakes up, and it's quick for me to get up and get him. When he wakes that first time of the night, I just get him and bring him into our bedroom, sitting up in bed to nurse him and change his diaper, then lay him back down in the pack and play next to my side of the bed for the remainder of the night. That way when we get up to shower in the morning, we don't bother him or wake him up by using the bathroom right next to his room. I want to keep using the pack and play some so that he is used to sleeping in it for when we travel over Christmas, too. When we get home after our travels, I may start nursing him in his room and putting him back in the crib in the middle of the night too, we'll see. With Owen being my last baby, I kind of like hearing him sleeping next to my side of the bed. He's always been a noisy sleeper, and I enjoy hearing his little grunts and sighs and hearing him breathing deeply when he is sound asleep. So even though it will be nice to have our room back and not have to worry about waking him up, I will miss hearing those little sounds throughout the night.
Here is a video and some pictures of Owen playing on his floor gym that Friday.
Here he is having some tummy time.
On Friday at school Samantha lost another tooth, another one on the bottom, so now she has holes and missing teeth all over her mouth. It's going to be pretty hard for her to bite into things with her front teeth now, but she looks so cute with all her missing teeth. It makes her look like such an elementary age kid with her missing teeth, and her adult teeth growing in. No more baby teeth for her! However, it does appear that many of her adult teeth are growing in crooked, so I imagine braces are going to be in this girl's future. I just hope her teeth won't be as bad as mine were and she won't have to have braces for five years. :( I will have to get an updated picture of all her missing teeth to post. She will get a kick out those pictures when she gets older.
Ben decided to get tickets to the Laker hockey game on Friday night. We debated whether or not to get tickets because Samantha woke up pretty tired on Friday morning, but we decided to try it anyways because it's fun to go as a family. We got ourselves all bundled up and walked over to the Norris Center. I took Owen out of the Ergo for awhile, and Ben held him while he just looked around the arena. However, he got fussy after awhile, so I decided I'd put him back in the Ergo and walk around with him so he could take a nap. He was asleep by the time I finished my first lap around the rink. We always sit in our seats and watch the game for the first period, then we get up and walk around with the kids, letting them pick out a snack before going back to our seats. Daddy and Samantha chose nachos, and Aedan and I chose pretzels with cheese. I tried to go back to the seats and sit down with Owen in the Ergo asleep, but he didn't want me to sit down, for he started stirring as soon as I sat. I decided I'd rather have him keep sleeping than sit down, so I took my snack up to the top of our section so I could stand and eat, gently swaying back and forth so he would continue sleeping. The pictures below are of my little guy fast asleep. Just recently I have switched to just using the little pillow from the newborn insert to give his bottom a boost and get his legs in the correct frog leg position, instead of the whole insert, because he is just getting too big. He fit perfectly in it this way, all comfy against my chest with plenty of room for him to move his head and breathe. I'm glad that he still falls asleep easily when being held like this. It will be sad when he no longer wants to fall asleep in my arms. I didn't mind watching the hockey game from the top while snuggling my little baby.
Samantha and Aedan were having a good time hanging out with Daddy, eating their snack, and dancing to the music, but they were getting pretty tired by the end of the second period, and we had already kind of decided we weren't going to stay for the whole game. Owen also started to stir in the Ergo, and I didn't feel like trying to nurse him at the hockey game, especially since he was just going to want to go to sleep for the night, so I decided to just head back home with Owen before Daddy left with the big kids. It's fun going to hockey games, but then we get back so late and the kids get to bed after 9:00, so by the time I was done putting Owen to bed, it was time for Ben and I to get to bed as well. However, it's a fun thing to do as a family, especially during these cold winter months, and it's right down the street from our house, so it's very easy to get to. Even though the kids don't watch the game very much, they enjoy going to spend time together as a family.
Owen did pretty well that night, nursing before he went to bed and then again around 2:30 for quite awhile, then going back to sleep until 8:30. He has been getting back to his normal routine now that we are back home from Thanksgiving. He normally nurses right before bed, then sleeps until 2:00 or 3:00 to eat again, then going back to sleep until about 8:00-8:30. It's a pretty good routine that we've established, and I am lucky to have an almost 11 week old that generally only wakes up once a night. Of course Samantha and Aedan were up at their normal time, even though they were up late, but that's too be expected. We didn't have any plans on Saturday, and the kids were kind of grumpy and tired, so we just spent the day hanging out at home, doing laundry, getting caught up on things around the house, and playing together.
On Saturday evening after bath time, Daddy was holding Owen so that I could help put Samantha and Aedan to bed. I try to participate in bed time whenever I can, as long as Owen isn't needing to go to bed at the same time. However, as Ben held Owen, he just fell asleep, so we decided to just let him sleep until he woke up, and then I took him downstairs, fed him, and put him to bed. He was so cute, fast asleep on Daddy's lap. I know Daddy enjoys cuddling with him and holding him when he can.
(Blog about November 26-December 2, 2017)
No comments:
Post a Comment