A Song in her Heart

The Pagan house is resonating with song. Our sweet Charlotte cannot stop singing lately and my heart is exploding.  Her repertoire is expanding daily and currently includes:
ABC's
Twinkle, Twinkle
Jesus Loves Me
We Will Rock You
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman
Jingle Bells

She wakes up singing, spends the entire day singing and goes to bed singing. I have turned into her personal jukebox. "Mama, sing Frosty! Mama, sing Kinkle!"

We were driving home one night and she said, "Mama, you sing ABCD and I'll sing Jesus loves me. Go." And she was serious. She wanted to conduct a round of children's songs on our ride home.

I cannot believe how much of my day I spend laughing at her. Everything she says is hilarious. She dropped a toy and exasperatedly said, "Oooohh goodness!"

She has a huge imagination and is doing really well playing on her own lately. She cooks dinner, goes to Costco with Charlie, and takes extra good care of her babies.

She is incredibly sweet to Ryder, hugging and kissing him all day long. She brings him toys and blankets.  She has never shown even a spark of jealousy. Praise God.

I go to bed each night overwhelmed by the blessing of my children.  I love them and cannot believe how lucky I am to be home with them.

Ryder-4 Months

4 months old. My baby boy is a total fatty!

15 lbs (50th %)
24.5 in (20th %)

He is the sweetest, happiest little baby, and absolutely lights up my life. You just look at him and he can't help but give you the biggest smile you have ever seen. He is incredibly ticklish and giggles whenever you touch his belly. Having his pants put on might be the highlight of his day. It is so cute that sometimes I take them off and put them back on a few times, just to listen to him giggle. 

He continues to be laid back. He naps well in his bed, and sleeps from 6:30/7-6:30/7 with one (sometimes 2) feedings. 

He loves to snuggle and sleeps well in my arms when we are out and about. I recently switched him over to my Beco carrier and he really likes it. 

He still dislikes the car, but not quite so dramatically.

He is a tummy-time master and even rolled over once (just once, so it isn't "official"). Charlotte is definitely his best friend, but any smiling face will do. 

I am one blessed Mama. As Jeremy said, "If I had a dollar for every time you said our kids are so cute, I would be a bazillionair!" 

He is so right.... I must say it 200 times a day.

No Thank You, Change

Despite the perfect, obvious timing, this blog is not about politics. It's about my 2 year old, who is making it very clear to us that she does not embrace change.

Two examples:

Big Girl Bed:

We only own one crib. I have vowed to keep it that way. So, as Ryder grows, the task of moving Charlotte out of the crib becomes necessary. For her birthday, she was gifted a toddler bed and bedding. She was ecstatic. She couldn't stop talking about her "big girl bed."  So, Sunday after the party, we took down her crib, and replaced it with the much anticipated bed.  Nap time rolls around and she willingly, no excitedly, lies down in her bed. Jer and I watched in a amazement over the video monitor as she easily drifted off to sleep. With two sleeping babies in the house, I decided to run to the store before anyone woke up.  Nap time proceeded as normal, Jer worked on the house, when out of the blue (and an hour and half too early) Charlotte, in a too-short-naptime-haze stumbles out of her room. Jer sensed her confusion and tried to get her back to bed. And then the breakdown. "No big girl bed! I don't like my big girl bed! I need my crib! May I have my crib please!" This pleading continued all afternoon and evening. Hopeful she would remember the joy of her big girl bed when story time came around, we proceeded as normal with our bedtime routine. But she would have none of that. She would not sit, or even approach her new nemesis. Hysterical, and significantly past her bedtime, Jer and I raised our white flag. So, at 8:00 PM Jer pulls out the disassembled crib and makes swift work to reassemble the prize. To cap off the night, as I'm putting my very happy and relieved toddler in her reclaimed crib, she says, "night night big girl bed!" And there you have it... She will be sleeping in her crib until high school :) 

In all reality, I'm happy to have her in her crib still. We tried to move her because she asked for it. When she realized what it meant to be in a big girl bed, she changed her mind, and we were happy to accommodate. Not all decisions in life can be taken back, but this one could. We know she will move to her bed when she is ready, and Ryder is perfectly content in the cradle. 

Potty-Training

One morning Charlotte woke up completely dry. Very excited, I asked her if she wanted to pee-pee on the potty. She was thrilled, ran to the potty and promptly peed.  But very little. Overflowing with praise, I encouraged her, and rewarded her with stickers and big girl panties. She was so proud. We came out to the living room, and less than 10 minutes later she had her first accident. To be expected, no big deal! Wrong. My poor girl was devastated, and officially traumatized. "My panties are wet! I pee-pee on my panties! I need my dipey! No more panties! I need my dipey!" And oh the tears... And so, the dipey went back on and we said good-by to panties for the time being.  Since then, she completely refuses to even sit on the potty. When asked about it she tells me, "My pee-pee is night night. I just need my dipey." (Where does she come up with this stuff?)

So we will not be pushing her. She is brilliant and I have no doubt that she will potty train and retire her crib in her own time.  Until then I will enjoy the containment and the fact that I never have to use the bathroom at WinCo.

Ryder-3 Months

A few days behind, but Ryder is now 3 months old. I love this age. He is so incredibly sweet, happy and giggly. He is a big boy, weighing in the high 13 pound range.  I love that we are starting to learn his personality. He is really easy going, will fall asleep in your arms anywhere, despite any noise or commotion. He is so happy, just look at him and he can't help but smile. His smile is so big and contagious; it looks like his face is going to burst with joy. He spends most of his day sleeping still, but he enjoys his little jungle gym or bouncey seat for about 10-15 minutes at a time. He also LOVES the Moby wrap, and usually takes his second nap of the day in it, while Charlotte plays at the park or Turtle Bay.

At home, when he is ready for a nap, just wrap him up and put him in his bed, he goes right to sleep.  When we are out, just hold him tight with his paci, and he drifts right off. His normal  day starts at 7 with a feeding. From there he is awake about an hour to hour and a half, then down for a nap until his next feeding. At night, he goes to bed at 7, never puts up a fight, and sleeps anywhere from 6-10 hours. He has yet to sleep a full 12 hours, but I keep telling myself he will get there eventually. A good night he will sleep from 7-4:30/5, on a bad night he will wake up at 1 and eat, then eat again around 4:30/5.

Today is his first day in the pac 'n play in the middle room. This is a temporary situation, until he is sleeping through the night and Charlotte is ready for her big girl bed. (That story deserves a blog in itself). They will be in the same room eventually. I decided it was time to move him because I don't trust the cradle with much more weight. I was having terrible thoughts about it collapsing on him in the middle of the night..

We are so blessed to have him in our family. I feel like I have bonding with him even faster and stronger than I did Charlotte. I just want to kiss him and squeeze him all day long. Something about doing it the second time gives you a different perspective. I know this tiny baby stage will be gone in a blink, I just want to soak up every minute with him.