Aedan: 50 Months, Week 2
Owen: 8 Months, Week 3 (Week 38)
Sunday was a pretty typical day in our house with church and gearing up for Samantha's last week of school. Owen seemed to be starting to feel better, especially in comparison to last week. He was still up twice Saturday night, which is not too abnormal for him as of late, even though I feel like at 8 1/2 months old, he shouldn't have to be up that much. However, I was able to just nurse him and put him back to sleep, which is much better than having to be up with him for a couple hours in the middle of the night.
The week was going to be pretty busy with Samantha finishing up school. She had two full days and then three half days. School had essentially been over for awhile, as they really were no longer doing any real work anymore. They were doing fun activities like the Jingtamook, going on field trips, having field day, and lots of other end of the year events.
Here are some pictures I forgot to include in my previous post:
On Thursday, May 31, Samantha's class was going to go on a field trip to go bowling and then spend the afternoon at the park. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate enough for them to to play at the park, but they still got to have a fun time bowling that morning. I know she especially liked it when they turned the lights off and everything glowed.
Here are the kid enjoying some sibling wrestle time that evening. I love to watch these three interact.
On Tuesday morning we made a family trip to Samantha's school to meet with Samantha's 2nd grade teacher. She has been teaching Samantha math all year, and she will also be Samantha's full time teacher next year for 2nd grade. We also got to meet the teacher that Samantha will be going to for 3rd grade math. We just wanted to have one final meeting before the end of the school year to make sure we were all on the same page and all set for next year. We are so glad that Samantha will have these teachers next year. Mrs. Fewchuk has been amazing this past year at working with us and supporting Samantha. Samantha has learned and grown so much through her work and dedication, and we are looking forward to a really good year in 2nd grade with the structure and routine she will provide in the classroom. Samantha has also commented how she is excited about being in her class next year, and it's nice to know what to expect going into next year and knowing that the teachers will work together to be sure the math times align well so Samantha can continue going up a grade for math instruction.
I wanted to do some special things with just Aedan (and Owen) before Samantha is home for the summer, but I didn't have too many great ideas, so I asked him what he thought. The only suggestion he had was playing with his friend, Marion, again. Since we can't exactly invite ourselves over to someone's house, I extended the invitation for them to come over to our house for a play date. I got Owen down for his morning nap before they came over, but he didn't even make it half an hour before waking up again. I went downstairs to try and get him back to sleep, but he wasn't acting too interested in going back to sleep, and I didn't want to spend too long down there with him when we had friends over at our house, so I just decided to nurse him and bring him back upstairs to play. For some reason, Aedan was very tired that morning and was not acting like the greatest friend. I had to remind him a couple times that he shouldn't just be going off by himself to play, but should be trying to include Marion and find things that she wanted to do. He seems to have a hard time having friends over and sharing his toys with others. I was able to leave Izzy out, too, which was nice. They didn't mind her barking for a few minutes, the mom is a vet, so she is used to being around animals anyways. I like to not always lock her up when people come over because I want her to start getting used to being around people that are not part of our family. Although, it's kind of funny because she doesn't bark at kids, just adults.
Tuesday was a rather frustrating day with Owen again, not napping much in the morning, and even though I hoped that would mean a better afternoon nap, that was not the case. He only made it 25 minutes before waking up crying. I was making a cake for small group and knew that I couldn't go downstairs with him with the cake still in the oven, so I let him cry for awhile until the cake was done, and then went downstairs to try and get him to sleep. I wished that he would just stop crying and fall asleep on his own, but he never does that, he just keeps crying and crying. Cry it out definitely would not work for him, but I do really wish he would be better at falling back asleep on his own and not always needing one of us to help him. After walking around his room with him for 20-25 minutes, he was dead asleep on my shoulder, but woke up as soon as I laid him down. I didn't understand why we had a few good days, but now were right back to where we were with short naps and being difficult to get to sleep. It was hard for me not to think that there was something I was doing wrong to make him such a lousy sleeper. He just sits up in his bed and cries. Sometimes I wish we would have gotten him used to taking a pacifier as an infant, or that maybe we would have weaned him off of needing us to get him to sleep before now when he is much heavier and has formed a habit. He has been this way ever since he was a newborn when we would hold him on our shoulder and walk around to get him to sleep, and now that is the only way he will fall asleep, other than me nursing him, but he doesn't like to just nurse just for sleeping, only when he actually wants to eat. We had stopped giving him medicine because it seemed like he was doing so much better over the weekend, and both of his top teeth are all the way through now, so you wouldn't think teething would be the cause of all this sleep disturbance. I just felt exhausted and didn't understand what his problem was. Once he's asleep, I'm afraid to even lay him down, or I feel like I have to do it in just a certain way so as to keep him asleep or leave my hands on him after laying him down in case he startles back awake again. And sometimes we do all this work just to have him wake right back up again. I just felt like a failure that afternoon, and then I felt sad because Owen is our last baby, and sometimes I don't enjoy him as much as I would like to because he is so frustrating with sleeping.
Then, we had a pretty busy Tuesday evening with small group at our house as well as Aedan's first tee-ball practice. He was supposed to have practice on Monday night, but they moved it to Tuesday since Monday was so cold and rainy. We ate a quick dinner at home as our small group arrived at our house, and then I took Aedan to tee-ball since Ben is the leader of our group and probably should be there to lead discussion. I wasn't sure what Aedan would think of tee-ball since he's never really done anything like that before. In fact, he's never really taken lessons or been a part of a team at all because they don't have much like that for younger kids in Sault Ste. Marie, so now that he's four, he can start trying out different sports and activities. We have a plastic tee, bat, and balls that he will occasionally play with in the back yard, but we didn't really even practice with him much before having his first practice. It seems like he is much more coordinated than Samantha, and he did such an awesome job at trying his best at each station and not giving up, even when something was more difficult or he got bored of doing the same things over and over again.
In this first video, Aedan got his glove on his left hand and practiced throwing a tennis ball through a hoop. He probably was standing a little too close to the hoops, but he was doing an excellent job throwing them in. He was very excited about going and getting the balls and throwing them again.
Then, we had a pretty busy Tuesday evening with small group at our house as well as Aedan's first tee-ball practice. He was supposed to have practice on Monday night, but they moved it to Tuesday since Monday was so cold and rainy. We ate a quick dinner at home as our small group arrived at our house, and then I took Aedan to tee-ball since Ben is the leader of our group and probably should be there to lead discussion. I wasn't sure what Aedan would think of tee-ball since he's never really done anything like that before. In fact, he's never really taken lessons or been a part of a team at all because they don't have much like that for younger kids in Sault Ste. Marie, so now that he's four, he can start trying out different sports and activities. We have a plastic tee, bat, and balls that he will occasionally play with in the back yard, but we didn't really even practice with him much before having his first practice. It seems like he is much more coordinated than Samantha, and he did such an awesome job at trying his best at each station and not giving up, even when something was more difficult or he got bored of doing the same things over and over again.
In this first video, Aedan got his glove on his left hand and practiced throwing a tennis ball through a hoop. He probably was standing a little too close to the hoops, but he was doing an excellent job throwing them in. He was very excited about going and getting the balls and throwing them again.
Jenny
Here are the kids practicing running the bases. Aedan came up to me and whispered, "Do you know how I'm running so fast? I'm using my super cat speed!"
Here he is practicing throwing balls into the buckets in the middle of the triangle. He got better and better as he practiced, and he proved that he had pretty good aim.
And here he is practicing hitting the ball off the tee. This was probably the most challenging thing for him. It took him awhile to get the hang of swinging the bat the right direction and with enough force to hit the ball and not just the tee. This is one area where I feel like Ben would be much better at helping him. I am not very athletic myself, and I'm not sure how to help him with his stance or his swing. Hopefully he will be able to come with him to some of his future practices.
I was really proud of how Aedan did at practice that night. He really enjoyed it, and he was really excited that he got his very own piece of bubble gum after practice. We don't normally let him have bubble gum because he doesn't really know how to chew it without swallowing it, but he decided he could handle it and then quietly chewed it on our walk back home.
We missed most of small group that night, but Owen did a good job while I was gone. Even though I got him to sleep okay that night for bed, he was awake an hour later screaming. After a long afternoon, I was not ready to have a rough night as well. All of this made me wonder if I needed to take him back to the doctor and get his ear re-checked. I knew all this was just a phase, but all this trouble has made the days feel so long and made me dread the night because of how much we might be up throughout the night.
Wednesday morning Ben offered to stay home with the boys while I went grocery shopping. I don't even remember the last time I went grocery shopping by myself. In fact, I even stopped and got myself some Starbucks to drink while I walked around. With our friends coming over the weekend, we had quite a long list, and there were a few things that I didn't know where they were, so it took me quite awhile.
Samantha had field day that day, and she had a great time playing games outside with her friends. She said she even won a couple of them.
After letting the boys play for awhile that morning, Ben tried to get Owen down for a nap, but he only slept thirty minutes. Here is Owen exploring and pulling up on chairs and the table in the kitchen. He's really enjoying standing and reaching for things. Sometimes I feel like he would be happier if we just let him stay awake all day so he could crawl around and explore his world.
JennWednesday, June 6
We had more trouble getting Owen to stay down for a nap again that afternoon. I didn't understand what what going on, and I went downstairs with him for quite awhile, walking around the room with him, trying to get him to stay asleep, but he would just wake up as soon as I laid him down. Eventually Ben came back home from campus so that I could go pick up the boy that we are watching after school. Ben ended up getting Owen to fall back asleep in his arms and slept for another forty-five minutes or so.
It was a beautiful evening outside that night, and we decided to go out for a bike ride around campus. We hadn't done that yet as a family since the weather turned nice, and it's something Aedan and Samantha always enjoy doing. After riding bikes for awhile, the kids started searching for tent caterpillars. You can find these caterpillars ALL over the place right now, and Samantha loves to collect them and keep them in containers. Here are all the ones she collected in the bag attached to her bike as we rode around campus. I think they are pretty gross, especially when I see them in large numbers like this, or when I see them crawling all over Samantha's arms. She certainly loves to play with them though. In fact, one day she came home from school with three or four caterpillars in her backpack that she had collected at school. That girl certainly is not afraid of bugs anymore.
Here is Samantha at her end of the year ice cream party. She was really excited about all the toppings she got to put on.
On Thursday afternoon, I put Owen down for his nap a little later since he slept until 11:30 that morning. He went down fine for me and stayed asleep for longer than usual as of late. I had to go pick up the boy we were watching from school, leaving Samantha in charge of the boys while I was gone. (I was only walking across the street. I was hoping Ben would be home, but he was still in a meeting and couldn't get home in time.) By the time I got back home, Samantha was already down in Owen's room, playing with him and keeping him happy until I got home. She said he started crying pretty quickly after I left, but he got about an hour nap in, which is pretty good after sleeping almost an hour and a half that morning.
Thursday night, however, was a terrible night of sleep for Owen. He was up several times, and around 4:00 in the morning he woke up, and I changed him and fed him but could not get him back to sleep, no matter how much I walked around and bounced him. Ben went in his room, trying to get him to stay asleep as well, but he was just moaning and making noise, so much so that I felt like I was going crazy. All I wanted to do was sleep, and I was so tired of hearing him crying and making noise. I figured Ben and I would be up for most of the rest of the morning, taking turns holding Owen and trying to get him to sleep. However, I couldn't get any sleep in our room while hearing Owen making noise in the next room, so I made the impulsive decision to go upstairs and sleep in the guest bedroom for awhile so I could actually get some rest. I sent Ben a text message to let him know what I was doing and to let me know when I needed to take over with Owen. I was just so tired and felt like I would pay someone big bucks just to get a full night's sleep. I am so ready for this boy to get over whatever is going on and start sleeping better.
On Friday we spent the morning getting some stuff done around outside the house. Ben mowed the lawn, did weed whacking, replaced sand in the sandbox, and while Aedan waited for Sissy to come, he was busy playing with his water gun in the back yard, filling it up with water from the pool, and then going around and watering the trees.
Once Samantha got home from school, we decided to go out and celebrate her last day of school with some ice cream from Dairy Queen. She got a cherry dipped swirl cone and Aedan got a strawberry sundae. It was fun to celebrate Samantha being done with school. Time for summer and all the fun that entails!
We had been trying to let Aedan try not napping and just having quiet time in the afternoons since it helps him to go to sleep better at night, so on Friday afternoon, while I was getting things ready for guests to arrive that evening, Ben took Samantha and Aedan to get the car washed and then had them help clean the inside of the car from Izzy's hair, wiping down dust, and cleaning off the floor mats from all the dirt and grossness from winter. The car looked really nice after they were done, and then I even had the kids help me plant flower seeds that Samantha got for her birthday. They were getting pretty tired, but they did a good job of helping me mix up the soil, make a finger hole, plop a seed in, and then cover it up. When we've planted flowers in the past, we have always bought flowers that are already growing, so this is our first attempt at growing flowers from seeds. I am not the best gardener or the best at keeping plants alive, so we will see what happens.
The kids were really excited for our friends to arrive that evening. We planned to cook out for dinner, and then it was time to get everyone settled in and get our tired kids to bed. It was so good to have Brad, Melissa, Madeline, and Matthew at our house for a visit. The first night with kids in a new place is always difficult, but it was fun sitting and talking with them until we all decided to tuck ourselves in for the night as well.
After a pretty rough night Thursday night, Friday night was considerably better. Owen only woke up twice and was fairly easy to get back to sleep. He woke up a little earlier than usual Saturday morning, but that actually ended up working out better because he was able to take a nap before our morning excursion. The local mini-golf place was allowing residents to play one round for free, so we decided that would be a fun activity for the kids to take part in. They didn't exactly play like they were supposed to, and we didn't keep score, but the kids had fun just running around and hitting the balls with their clubs. When we got to the top of the course, I decided to get all the kids together for some pictures. Matthew was tired, hence his look in this picture, but I really got some cute pictures of all our kiddos together. Even Owen is giving me a cute smile! It's so fun to catch up with good friends you can just be yourself around. And it's so fun for our kids to get together and enjoy each other's company as well.
By the time we were done golfing, it was about lunchtime, and we didn't really feel like going back to the house and making lunch, especially since we wanted to show them the locks. So we decided to order carry out from Zorba's and take it into the park with us to have a picnic lunch and then walk around the locks some. However, the park was overtaken by caterpillars! There was no safe place to sit or stand, and it was actually kind of insane. You had to keep moving your feet so that they wouldn't crawl up your feet and shoes. The kids coped well though and ate their food pretty good. Then, we walked around the locks a little bit, watching a small boat come in, before we decided to go home before all the kids lost it from being overtired. We decided to have Aedan nap that afternoon because he was just so tired, and Melissa and I went out to get coffee and talk for awhile that afternoon. It was so good to just sit and talk without kids needing our attention. We have a lot in common and have similar personalities in how we cope with things, so it was great to talk about life, motherhood, and all the craziness that entails. I love that we have stayed close over all these years, and even when several months go by without talking, we can just pick up right where we left off. I hope that we can make these visits to see each other more regular and that we can always stay close friends.
The rest of the evening we spent just hanging out and playing at home. The kids played in the back yard a lot, climbing, swinging, and spraying water out of the pool with water guns. Everyone went to bed much easier that night, and then the adults were able to sit and play games together, just like old times. It was so fun having our friends in our home, and I'm so glad we live somewhere that is big enough to welcome guests comfortably.
(Blog about June 3-9, 2018)
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