Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Odds and Ends

Conversation last night at bedtime:
Ben: Are you mad?
Me: No, just tired.
Ben: Does tired mean mad?
Me: No, tired means I just need to rest.
Ben: (after thinking for a few seconds) Are you starvis?
Me: Starvis?
Ben: Yeah.
Me: What's starvis?
Ben: Starvis is when you're really, really hungry.
Me: You mean starving.
Ben: Oh. Yeah, I'm starving.

Forgot to mention in the last post that when Jack is looking for something, he will wander around calling for it. Like "Paci? Where aaaare yooooooou?" Which actually sounds more like "Bapeeeee? Weeeeaaaaaaaaooooooooooooo?"

Emma is now doing that squealing thing which is funny because I think she sometimes surprises herself and her eyes get really big. The past 3 nights she has cut out one of her feedings. That gives her a 6 hour stretch which would be even better if it was during a time when I was sleeping the same 6 hours. Soon enough!

Friday, July 9, 2010

No Such Thing As A Quick Post...

Ben

This month Ben will turn 4 (on the 28th)! Hard to believe so much time has passed already. Before we know it, he'll be graduating High School.

I've been working on getting him to write the letters of his name. So far, B is it. heh. I have also been trying to review the letters of the alphabet and some words he used to know when he was Jack's age. He will be able to go into kindergarten not this fall, but next. I'm sure he'll be ready knowledge wise by then, and hopefully socially once I start getting him around other kids more.

We started a "Ben's Great Behavior" chart a few weeks ago. He gets a sticker for doing good things like getting dressed all by himself, picking up books and toys, etc. He also starts every day with 3 smiley faces which get taken away for things like hitting or screaming at Jack, not listening to Mommy, etc. If he has at least 1 smiley at the end of the day, he gets a small treat the next morning. So far he's gotten stuff like a bubble wand, a matchbox car out of the Cheerios box, and a cup of strawberry milk (his idea). =-) After he has accumulated 7 days (not consecutive) of smiley faces, he gets a big prize. His first prize was a trip to the indoor playground at Chick-Fil-A (also his idea). His next prize is a Buzz Lightyear action figure. We are still 5 days away from that goal.

Funny stuff Ben has said lately:

Jack went running into his room crying and throwing a fit for no apparent reason.
I looked at Ben who smiled and said "I scared him with my brain!".

Ben: Sometimes I don't love Grandpa Huber because he has a scary shirt on.
(Dad was wearing his pirate - skull and crossbones - shirt .)



Jack

Jack will turn 2 on August 11th! Wasn't he just a baby yesterday?

Mr. Personality has taken to screaming in the house and is not dissuaded by a timeout, or Mommy's angry face. In fact, he just laughs. I have been trying to spend a little time every day reading to him and playing with him one-on-one so he doesn't feel the need to do crazy things to get attention. He's great about going to bed though - no fussing at naps or at night.

Although he has his tantrum moments, he also has plenty of good ones. He is very helpful and will deliver Ben's juice to him, or his sleepy bear and Ben frequently will ask Jack to get him something, and he usually will. He also almost always says Thank You when you give him something (or "Kee Koo" which is his version for now).

He likes to wander around the house singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the Barney theme song although you can't really make out many words yet. He has the tunes pretty well. He also loves to twirl and dance whenever he hears music. I remember Ben doing this at his age too.

Both boys love their baby sister and I have to watch them so they don't get too excited and poke her in the face with toys or try to feed her their lunch or dinner (or kiss her too much).

Unfortunately we had to cut the bunk-beds apart, but the boys are doing really well in them although we do occasionally find one of them in the other one's bed in the morning. Plus, now they can play in their room without me worrying that they will fall.

Ben is sleeping now from about 8:30 or 9:00pm until 6:30am and then takes a nap around 2:00pm for 2 or 3 hours. Jack sleeps from 7:30pm until about 5:45am and then takes a nap around 10:30 or 11:00am for about an hour and a half.

Emma

Miss Sweet Pea is now 15 pounds and 24" long as of her Doctor's appointment this week (at 3 1/2 months). The Doctor said she has the social behavior of a 6 month old (mostly, I think, because she was looking at him suspiciously - and cried when he reached for her - and he said stranger anxiety doesn't normally start this early).

She is in 6-9 month clothes and has been enjoying sitting upright (or standing) in her walker. She can move backwards in it, but probably not on purpose. She's always got those fingers in her mouth and is drooling like crazy, but I checked the boy's baby books and they didn't get their first teeth (the bottom front ones) until they were 8 months old.

She has been giggling more lately and smiling a lot. She is still waking up at around 11pm and 3am to eat. I am thinking of starting some mixed grain cereal in the evening tomorrow to see if she'll sleep longer.

She is still not taking a bottle of any sort, but after consulting with my Mommies group, I have a new idea to try. We'll see how it goes. Sure would be nice to get a full night's sleep after 4 months.