Today was rough. This normally happy little guy is majorly teething and wasn't so happy today. Aside from a few happy moments in his jumperoo, he boycotted naps and demanded to be held all day long. Fortunately, I will do anything to keep this sweet little boy smiling and did my best to keep him comfortable BUT his fussiness made today seem really, really long.
Entries categorized "Baby"
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Weekend Opener
This morning, after breakfast, we got in the car and drove to Sky Meadows State Park so we could do a little hiking and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.
Less than an hour away from home and so much gorgeousness, right?
This little guy enjoyed the sunshine.
The little girl had the opportunity to walk Bella all by herself for the first time.
Can you tell how incredibly proud of herself she was?
Mom, are you coming?
He was still having fun and happy as ever.
Stopping to smell the "roses".
Look at this, Mama!
Off the trail, we enjoy an apple butter cooking demonstration, live music and the "mini maze" below.
Perfect for half pints who might otherwise get lost in a really tall corn maze.
We stopped at the Hunter's Head Tavern in Upperville for a late lunch on the the way home. This place is straight out of the English countryside right down to the menu and mortar on the walls.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Cox Farms Fall Festival
The phone call from our dishwasher repair man at 7:10 this morning to say that he was only a few minutes away from arriving woke up the entire house...dogs, both kids and me. We were all up and dressed by 7:30. The dogs wanted to go outside. Oliver wanted milk. Ava wanted milk, waffles, to watch "Olivia" and go to the park, preferably all at the same time. It was just one of those times that I felt like we needed a fun activity or the morning was going to feel really long.
Cox Farms Fall Festival was on my fall to do list, but we haven't had a chance to go yet and the weekend crowds are such that we you do go, you really have to be up for it. I decided that since both kids were home with me all day today, (no school because of Columbus Day today) I would try to take them both myself. Call me crazy, but we packed the car and headed out.
We arrived just before 10:00 as Oliver was just about to fall asleep for his morning nap. Sweet little Oliver slept through most of our two hour visit.
There's my girl coming down the slide. Since I had Oliver with me and couldn't push the stroller up the slide of the hill, she had to be really brave and go alone if she wanted to go down the slide.
She was definitely brave and showed no hesistation.
When she got to a point on the slide when she stopped sliding, she would stand up and start running
and shouting "I go one more time" again and again and then head up the side of the hill...
and go down all over again.
She also really loved trying to swing on this rope and then falling onto the trampoline.
She also had fun hanging out in the "corn crib".
What a busy morning! I'm hoping everyone, including me, takes a nap this afternoon!
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Oliver is 4 months old!
Oliver turned 4 months old on September 11, 2011. I'm only three weeks late with his update. Oops! These past four months have been the fastest of my life. How did you turn into such a little boy with your blond tuft of hair and your mischievous grins? Your sister makes you laugh harder than anyone. All she has to do is look at you and you crack up like it was the funniest thing anyone has ever done.
You don't like laying on your back. If anyone puts you on your back, you roll over as quick as you can. Then you kick your legs wildly and scream because you cannot move. Nothing delights you more than having someone sing to you. You smile, coo, laugh and try to sing right back.
Taking a bath is the worst part of your day. It's so bad in fact that I started to only bathe you twice a week because you hate it THAT bad. I've tried putting you in the bath with your sister, who loves the bath, so she can show you all her best toys. I've tried the sink, the tub, various contraptions in the sink and the tub and you still scream as though this is the worst thing anyone has ever experienced in the history of the world. All I have to do is walk into the bathroom with the bathtub water running and you start to cry. I hope this is a phase or the swimming lesson years are going to be tough.
You are a great napper and a good sleeper at night and despite how much sleep you get, I'm pretty sure this is the most tired I have ever been. Even still, I feel so lucky to be your mom and to be able to witness your precious life.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Oliver is 3 months old!
Oliver turned 3 months old on August 11 and I finally got around to taking his 3 month photos today. My normally happy and smiley baby is quite fussy today. He has been rolling over from his back to his stomach in his crib and then getting frustrated that he is stuck and can't move. I also fear the 4 month "wakeful" period and the first signs of teething are at risk for a head on collision.
He has outgrown all of his 0-3 month clothes and even some of the 3-6 month sizes too. He doesn't get weighed this month but we will see how much he has grown at his 4 month check up in September. Oliver can sleep up to about 6 or 7 hours at night, but doesn't always do this consistently. So far, he's yet to turn down a meal and he loves to snuggle and he love love loves to hold his feet.
On a side note, Ava was a little upset that Oliver was getting so much attention this morning and she wanted me to take pictures of her too.
When I told her to sit down and give me best smile, she did exactly that.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
What's in your lunchbox?
One thing that I loved about our nursery school in London was that it provided meals and snacks for the kids and I didn't need to worry about trying to make her a lunch to take to school. At Ava's preschool in Virginia (and almost every other preschool in this area) kids bring their own lunches to school. It's a legal thing related to not being about to serve food without commercial kitchen in the facility or something like that.
It was a bit of an adjustment and kind of a tricky thing to work out what to pack for toddler. The rules at her school are your pretty standard: no nuts (tree or otherwise), no juice boxes, reusable lunch boxes only and packaged foods are highly, highly discouraged. (No oreos, teddy grahams, etc)
At the beginning of the year, I found this great product called Laptop lunches. It's basically like a bento box for kids. It's been a great help with making healthy food look appealing for little fingers. It has an insulated carrying case and the set up of the lunchbox also makes it easy to serve a lot of different types of foods with really small portions much like she would eat at home.
Here's a typical lunch for Ava this summer:
Apple slices, dried cranberries, grapes, turkey and cheese sandwich, string cheese and peas (her favorite!)
Dried cranberries, green bean chips (baked green beans), strawberries, red grapes, cheese quesadilla, shelled edamame.
Whole wheat pita bread, hummus, strawberries, grapes, carrots, cucumbers and peas.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Guess what we're doing this weekend?
Ugh, it's time. Ava is just way too interested in potty training for me to put her off any longer. Oh, and in case you are wondering, no, you did not just step into a game of "Which one of these things is not like the other?" a la Sesame Street - the wine is for me because I am going to need it.
I've gathered my supplies: a potty seat for going on the regular toilet in her bathroom (Ava & Oliver share a "Jack & Jill bathroom"), a regular potty for the main floor, 5 pairs of Mother Ease training pants (I suspect I'm going to be doing a lot of laundry) and a "Stress-Free Potty Training" book. I haven't cracked open the book yet. I'll thumb through it tonight but odds are that I'll probably be cracking open the wine before the book.
At first, I thought about starting by getting some pull-ups, but so so many people, including Ava's teachers at school, told me this was a big mistake because it's "confusing" for kids basically because pull-ups "feel" like going in a diaper and it's confusing for kids because it's ok to go in a diaper but not in a pull-up. (This is just way I've heard by the way. If your child was fully potty trained using pull-ups and it worked great for you, then more power to ya!)
Also, after worrying about the potential mess from just starting with regular underwear, I decided to try using Mother Ease Training Pants. They are washable, more able than regular underwear to catch messes and when soiled, it's a very different sensation for a child than a regular diaper.
I bought 5 pairs because at $13.50/each, they are a little expensive for something that will (hopefully) be used for such a short period of time. I bought size small for kids 20-30lbs and in all gender neutral prints like Wetlands, Oceans and Savanna so hopefully Oliver can use them too. Ava's smack in the middle at 25lbs and these are still really big on her.
The plan is basically to spend most of the weekend at home with Ava in her "big girl underpants" and ask her about a million times a day if she needs to go potty. No wonder I'll need the wine.
I may need some encouragement here and I'll let you know how it goes next week!
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