Who's a happy baby?
This girl!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Sleepy Time
I've been spending time lately adding labels to old posts. Random fact: there are over 300 posts for this blog. Since we aren't posting nearly as often as we used to, that may be surprising. In fact, I'm sure people don't drop by to get updates very often anymore. That's okay, it's for the kids.
In going through the old posts, I found several where Chris mentioned Xander having a 'witching hour' where he'd scream through the evening. Yikes, I remember that it took work to calm Xander down but I'd repressed just how bad it was.
Hannah has not been like that. While pregnant I would joke (and secretly dread) that this third child would be the colicy baby, the one who would scream for hours for no reason that we could think of.
So far I couldn't have been more wrong. Hannah is an awesome baby. She is two months now. She does not spend much time crying but will look around quietly or spend time wiggling and flailing her limbs about. When she does cry, just picking her up usually works but spending a few minutes walking with her always calms her.
In the evening she will get somewhat fussy but I figured out what to do. Just lay her on the floor and let her wiggle until she falls asleep. Seriously. Then when I am ready for bed, I will bring her up to her room, sit in the rocking chair for a little while if she has woken up, then put her to bed and walk away. It's just that easy!
I really hope I'm not jinxing this by writing about it.
She's finally getting to a point of sleeping for four hours a stretch. A couple nights ago there was SIX entire hours of uninterrupted sleep. Seriously, it was better than having an energy drink.
I'm not sure if this is just Hannah's nature, to be laid back and relaxed. Or maybe it's that Chris and I know what we're doing this time around and we are more laid back and relaxed. Either way, I'll take it.
In going through the old posts, I found several where Chris mentioned Xander having a 'witching hour' where he'd scream through the evening. Yikes, I remember that it took work to calm Xander down but I'd repressed just how bad it was.
Hannah has not been like that. While pregnant I would joke (and secretly dread) that this third child would be the colicy baby, the one who would scream for hours for no reason that we could think of.
So far I couldn't have been more wrong. Hannah is an awesome baby. She is two months now. She does not spend much time crying but will look around quietly or spend time wiggling and flailing her limbs about. When she does cry, just picking her up usually works but spending a few minutes walking with her always calms her.
In the evening she will get somewhat fussy but I figured out what to do. Just lay her on the floor and let her wiggle until she falls asleep. Seriously. Then when I am ready for bed, I will bring her up to her room, sit in the rocking chair for a little while if she has woken up, then put her to bed and walk away. It's just that easy!
I really hope I'm not jinxing this by writing about it.
She's finally getting to a point of sleeping for four hours a stretch. A couple nights ago there was SIX entire hours of uninterrupted sleep. Seriously, it was better than having an energy drink.
I'm not sure if this is just Hannah's nature, to be laid back and relaxed. Or maybe it's that Chris and I know what we're doing this time around and we are more laid back and relaxed. Either way, I'll take it.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Push comes to Shove
There are two reasons we have this blog. One is so that friends and family who don't get to see the kids regularly can still keep up with what is going on and see how the kids are doing. The other reason is the blog is like a baby book where we keep track of milestones and events for each child.
With that second reason in mind, sometimes I hesitate in writing about an event. Xander's first fall down the stairs that resulted in his first trip to the ER is missing. Also missing is the picture of Xander stark naked and covered head to toe in lotion. So should I tell you about Xander hitting kids at school? I will, though it's not an event to be proud of.
While picking up Xander from Pre-Kindergarten on Monday, the teacher held me back to talk to me. She said that she has talked to Xander about keeping his hands to himself on repeated occasions. He's had to spend time on the Thinking Chair for pushing kids. On Monday he punched a student.
Yikes, not something a parent wants to or expects to hear. And it's surprising because Xander always talks about how he loves his classmates and he often gives them hugs when he gets to school or leaves.
I asked him questions to figure out what happened. Xander said that the other student was looking at him and was too close so Xander pushed him. I asked if he apologized (he did) and we talked about other ways he could have handled it (asking the student to stop or just walk away). After a quiet ride to pick up his sisters Xander broke down into sniffles saying he was disappointed in himself for hitting someone.
That evening Xander had to tell Dad what happened. Chris and I decided that as punishment Xander was having his Legos taken away for a week and would not be allowed on the Jumpstart website for a week. He is dealing with it pretty well (although he keeps asking me to play on the website so he can watch).
The next day I was going to mention the punch to the other student's mother but did not see her before school. After school I saw her as we both picked up our kids. Xander was too quick for me though, he ran up to the student, told him he loved him and gave him a big hug. They laughed and ran along to their cars. So I'm assuming there is no lasting bitterness there.
With that second reason in mind, sometimes I hesitate in writing about an event. Xander's first fall down the stairs that resulted in his first trip to the ER is missing. Also missing is the picture of Xander stark naked and covered head to toe in lotion. So should I tell you about Xander hitting kids at school? I will, though it's not an event to be proud of.
While picking up Xander from Pre-Kindergarten on Monday, the teacher held me back to talk to me. She said that she has talked to Xander about keeping his hands to himself on repeated occasions. He's had to spend time on the Thinking Chair for pushing kids. On Monday he punched a student.
Yikes, not something a parent wants to or expects to hear. And it's surprising because Xander always talks about how he loves his classmates and he often gives them hugs when he gets to school or leaves.
I asked him questions to figure out what happened. Xander said that the other student was looking at him and was too close so Xander pushed him. I asked if he apologized (he did) and we talked about other ways he could have handled it (asking the student to stop or just walk away). After a quiet ride to pick up his sisters Xander broke down into sniffles saying he was disappointed in himself for hitting someone.
That evening Xander had to tell Dad what happened. Chris and I decided that as punishment Xander was having his Legos taken away for a week and would not be allowed on the Jumpstart website for a week. He is dealing with it pretty well (although he keeps asking me to play on the website so he can watch).
The next day I was going to mention the punch to the other student's mother but did not see her before school. After school I saw her as we both picked up our kids. Xander was too quick for me though, he ran up to the student, told him he loved him and gave him a big hug. They laughed and ran along to their cars. So I'm assuming there is no lasting bitterness there.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Jaw of Steel
I went out on Saturday night for a couple hours and some neighbors were nice enough to watch Xander and Josie (Hannah was my co-pilot). I picked the kids up at 8, which is their bedtime, and walked them home. When we arrived, Josie asked for water. At this point Hannah began to cry, so I quickly grabbed a glass, filled it and handed it to Josie. I began to head upstairs when there was an odd noise followed by Josie howling.
I set Hannah down to cry and flew back to Josie. She was standing in the same spot sobbing and holding a broken glass. I took it away from her, tossed the couple chunks of glass I saw into it and looked Josie over. No blood, so far so good.
"Josie, are you hurt?"
"Noooooooo." (continues sobbing)
"Did you have an accident?"
"Yes." (starting to calm down)
"Did you drop the glass?"
"No."
*insert dawning comprehension*
"Josie, does anything hurt?"
"Yes."
"Where, what hurts?"
Josie points to her mouth.
"Josie did you bite the glass?"
"Uh-huh."
I had her open her mouth to look inside, but still no blood. I keep inquiring and Josie says there is something in her mouth. I try not to freak out (there's no blood, there's no blood, how bad can it be) and began to fish around in her mouth. At one point I see it - a small piece of glass, smaller than a pencil eraser, sitting down by her gums. But I can't get it.
Then it disappears.
Oops.
Josie had calmed down by that point so I put her to bed and called my mom, because moms always know what to do (with the exception of me, apparently). She suggested I call the doctor.
I called the doctor's office and he was kind enough to return my call at 8:30 on a Saturday night. He hemmed and hawwed just like I did. Josie swallowed a piece of broken glass but there was no sign of trauma or blood despite several minutes of prodding it around in her mouth. We decided that if she complained the next day I would take her to the emergency room for x-rays.
Fortunately she seems okay.
So your lesson today is to not give a two year old a glass, especially a glass that was given to your grandmother for her bridal shower 50+ years ago. Oops, indeed.
I set Hannah down to cry and flew back to Josie. She was standing in the same spot sobbing and holding a broken glass. I took it away from her, tossed the couple chunks of glass I saw into it and looked Josie over. No blood, so far so good.
"Josie, are you hurt?"
"Noooooooo." (continues sobbing)
"Did you have an accident?"
"Yes." (starting to calm down)
"Did you drop the glass?"
"No."
*insert dawning comprehension*
"Josie, does anything hurt?"
"Yes."
"Where, what hurts?"
Josie points to her mouth.
"Josie did you bite the glass?"
"Uh-huh."
I had her open her mouth to look inside, but still no blood. I keep inquiring and Josie says there is something in her mouth. I try not to freak out (there's no blood, there's no blood, how bad can it be) and began to fish around in her mouth. At one point I see it - a small piece of glass, smaller than a pencil eraser, sitting down by her gums. But I can't get it.
Then it disappears.
Oops.
Josie had calmed down by that point so I put her to bed and called my mom, because moms always know what to do (with the exception of me, apparently). She suggested I call the doctor.
I called the doctor's office and he was kind enough to return my call at 8:30 on a Saturday night. He hemmed and hawwed just like I did. Josie swallowed a piece of broken glass but there was no sign of trauma or blood despite several minutes of prodding it around in her mouth. We decided that if she complained the next day I would take her to the emergency room for x-rays.
Fortunately she seems okay.
So your lesson today is to not give a two year old a glass, especially a glass that was given to your grandmother for her bridal shower 50+ years ago. Oops, indeed.
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