sibling love

She initiated this...I'm surprised she has any hair left!




















and watching baby einstein (we're so proud of their love of TV...just kiddin ;) luci loved them when she was a babe and loves them still as a big kid. i usually end up putting one on before dinner time if clay is on a trip while i prepare a PB&J for the lu and some kind of mashed mush for the boy.









and i just had to include one of the cutest chubby cheeked faces i've ever seen...

what she does all day

she's very into ordered chaos these days. everything has to be spread all over the place...but spread just so. heaven forbid you suggest cleaning anything up and having it put away out of sight. cause she's still playing with them.

princess memory game cards are sorted by princess...or by dresses vs head shots vs friends of princesses. tinkertoys are laid out just so in a 1/2 moon...every time. every piece of food she has displayed for a tea party covering every inch of whatever surface she decides is the table or picnic place. every single dress up outfit is completely accessorized (necklaces, rings, purses, phones, cameras, head piece, shoes, etc.). every animal friend is put on a chair with a piece of food. she even dug gus' sleep suits out of the dirty clothes so she could spread them out in his room side by side.

she is a very busy girl.

and there is a method to her madness, but only she knows what that method is. and heaven help you if you mess up her system...there'll be h*ll to pay. this new obsession to have everything displayed in such a visual yet orderly to her way reminds me of someone i know...and it isn't her dad. sorry dad. maybe gusgus will be on your team.

have bossy big sister, will play dress up

he's a puppy... no, wait...a bunny!

no..wait...a princess of sorts...

nope! a birthday cake (he's laughing, i promise)!

G @ 6mo...for real

-big boy weighed in at 18 lbs, 14 oz (90%) around 5 1/2 months...we are a bit off on our well baby visit schedule because we delayed some shots but are all caught up now
-he LOVES LOVES LOVES him some sister. he wants to pull her hair, give her open mouth kisses, be in whatever she's in...he especially loves it when she sings to him. he loves him all things luci.
-he loves all things luci to the point that if she's in the room he's not interested in nursing...he wants to see what she's doing. cute, but annoying to mama.
-i now turn off the monitor at night - i can only hear him if he screams all holy moly...which he does usually 1x per night around 2a or 3a. i get up & feed him, and usually 20 minutes later we are all back to sleep. (you'd think i'd be feeling more rested, but not yet. i must have about an average of 3 hours short for 6 months = 549 hours to catch up on...guess that will take awhile)
-he goes to bed between 6:15p and 6:45p and usually wakes between 6a and 7a...typically closer to 6a :(

-he sleeps in a baby merlin's magic sleepsuit

-he naps between 8:30a & 9a for 45-90 minutes, then again 2-3 hours after waking up from the first nap, usually between 12p & 1p for another 45-90 minutes, and often then again between 4p & 5p for 30 minutes or so.
-he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth...diapers, wipes, spoons, bibs, washcloths, brushes, ducks (in the bath), fingers, the straps of my tank tops, luci's hair...seriously...EVERYTHING.
-no teeth yet
-he's in the big inflatable duck in the bath tub these days
-he sits, but often ends up on his face/belly because he's reaching for something to put into his mouth
-he loves him some mama. he regularly cries now if i even just put him in the jumperoo. he takes it personally...saying...."hey! don't you just wanna hold me? i like it when you hold me!!"...but then after 30 seconds or so he calms down & starts jumpin happy as a clam.
-he likes to hang out in his crib on his back trying to kick his mobile friends
-pedi suggested 3 meals a day of solids. we've been doing it about 2 1/2 weeks now, but it isn't going super well. a-he doesn't open his mouth. i have to take the paci out, shove the food in, and promptly replace the paci for all but about the first 3 bites b-he only likes bananas & sweet potatoes, and once he LOVED carrots but only once!??!!? c-he only eats the purees when mixed with cereal, he doesn't like the runny texture of strictly pureed food d-he kicks & arches & wants out of the highchair as soon as you put him in. e-he's been constipated for the last week f-he gets a rash on his face wherever most food touches. a+b+c+d+e+f= tired, exhausted, frustrated mama (and baby boy, i'm sure). my cooking is pretty much nil these days. luci gets nuggets or pb&j or pizza, gus gets baby food and i eat cereal or frozen pizza when the kids go to bed. fun, fun times. i'm hoping this gets better soon.

-he nurses 1x per night and 4-5x during the day
-his skin has been irritated lately...food really bothers his cheeks, and the drool on his shirts gives his chest a rash. and the crease in his neck? AWFUL. poor thing. i'm sure it is super uncomfortable.

-he's gaining mobility by the day...he scoots backwards, but doesn't seem to understand why or how he's moved & then he gets mad because he's farther away from toys than he was originally
-he's incredibly detailed oriented. he'll look at a tag for 30 minutes, or chew on his doggie's ear for 20 minutes. he notices things like patterns on my pj pants & wants to touch them. most little baby toys have extended arms or paws or fish that hang off of them...he always spends forever looking at just one of them...and eating it of course. by contrast lulu would try to put the whole thing her mouth & never gave the specifics of each toy a second thought...and when she couldn't get the whole thing in her mouth she'd throw it after about 2 minutes

and some outtakes...he seriously finds SUCH joy in his sister. and she finds SUCH joy in her brother. warms my heart in a way i could never have anticipated or expected :-) so blessed, so blessed.

surprise face!

he's going to be tough...

G @ 6 months

this is my placeholder for the post that is yet to come. my goo (my fav gus nickname...clara called him guster goo once and the goo really stuck with me...maybe cause he's got a SERIOUS amount of sweet baby chub?!?!) was 6 months old yesterday. holy cow we made it a 1/2 year. seemed like we'd never get here, and yet it was already yesterday (follow that?).

i have some super fun chair photos of him and some notes started but i want to do a proper post for my goo's half birthday. but it is 8:51p, and i promised myself i'd be in the shower by 9p. cause i haven't showered yet today. and i'm a shower freak. i hate not being showered by 10a. one of the hardest adjustments to being a mama instead of a professional was not being able to jump in the shower the moment i woke up. but i digress.

so anyway, right now i need to shower, and then i need to sleep. and if i start to post it'll be 11p before i know it and i'll be kicking myself in the morning. sooo tempting, but i'm going to do the right thing. and G if you are reading this someday feeling shafted, please know it is so that we can enjoy tomorrow...cause while the days are long, the weeks & months are FLYING by at this point...and i don't want to waste my days away wishing i was sleeping. i want to enjoy every minute with you in all of your wonderful sweet baby gooey-ness.

and look, it's already 9p. i stink. and apparently take a long time to post.

wordless wednesday

gifts

my bestie has many. many. many. talents. i'm so glad she shares them with me.

luci's favorite place to go in the whole world is clara's house. you'd swear it was Disney World or something. her excitement is so great that she can't sleep the night before, and tears flow the minute you mention it is time to go home. thanks for always showing her such a good time lawrence family.

more new tricks

look at me...i'm sitting, i'm sitting!!

uh oh...

help, help!
whew! upright again.

somebody is sitting on their own!!! it's tough to tell because he's 'buried in a mountain of pillows' (lulu's words), but trust me, it's better this way. keeps him safe from his sister pushing him falling over. but really (i promise), he is sitting on his own under all of those pillows.

but he'd rather be over there....

lulu loves it. if she only knew what was coming next...this boy is going to be all up in her junk very soon. he says baby toys schmaybe toys...i'll have what she's having. poor thing, she's in for a world of hurt!

feeding & wiping...

glass half full alternative title: developmental progress
glass half empty alternative title: eating & peeing & pooping

g is now eating solids 3x a day per his pedi...we are trying to end the night feedings so everyone is more well rested. so he's now eating solids 3x a day and nursing 4 or 5x a day. that is a lot of feeding/development progress/eating.

lulu is basically potty trained. she pretty much did it herself...i guess she was just ready (although clay says in all fairness he wasn't involved in my other 2 attempts, and i'm sure his presence made all the difference....um, yeah...right...) she's had 2 accidents since the afternoon of 5/31. that's 2 accidents in 2 1/2 weeks! she's still wearing a diaper at night (and she's not happy about it), but during the day she's a potty pro. i actually just took away the kiddo potty in favor of a plush seat insert that sits on top of the regular toilet. she had started emptying the little potty deposit into the big potty 'all by myself'...which really meant she was flinging pee everywhere. or even poop. yes. fun times. she's got the bladder of her parents (we both have tiny bladders...something i loved about him when we started dating!!) and goes what feels like every 20 minutes. that is a lot of wiping/developmental progress/peeing & pooping.

between all of this feeding & wiping i'm beat. and sort of grossed out.

Gus @ 5 months

this is the most 'gus' looking photo of them all :)

ready for church

i hereby pledge

not to try a new recipe for 1 month.

one of clay's biggest complaints about me is my 'slow' learning curve. now let me argue i'm a super quick study when i want to learn something. but i have to want to learn things, and i need to learn them in my own time, in my own way. i'm sure it is very frustrating to be married to someone with said personality trait.

eventually i just have these big epiphanies. i've had several since i met clay, and each time i do he just shakes his head in amazement that it has taken me (x) long to 'get it'. he's always dumbfounded that i really didn't 'get it' the whole time before...like he thought i'd been putting him on or something.

which brings me to today.

his knee is still healing, so i offered to mow the lawn. he looked at me like i had 6 heads...and literally said something like, "seriously? you are going to mow the law?" i very casually said, sure, why not...not comprehending why this seemed like such a big deal to him. i mowed our yard growing up ALL.THE.TIME. it was a HUGE (at least huge to me now) lawn. i did it like once a week from the time i was 8 until i was 19 or something. not a big deal. i know how to mow a lawn. and so i did, in fact, mow our tiny little postage stamp lawn. and my husband was SHOCKED. and i couldn't understand why he was so shocked. probably because not once since he's known me have i volunteered to mow or shown any interest in the yard or mowing. not sure why, i just haven't.

then i come in the kitchen to get started on dinner...a new recipe i've been wanting to try for awhile. i realize somewhere along the cooking process that i'm MUCH more comfortable mowing the lawn than attempting said recipe, even though i hadn't mowed a lawn in like 15 years, and cooking is something i attempt everyday. sure enough, after 90 minutes, $20 worth of groceries, a bit of anxiety & a few nasty words about needing help with the kids while I ruined finished dinner, we had crap to eat.

i finally get it. i'm NOT a naturally gifted cook. i can make a few things really well, and i should stick to them, especially while i'm the mama of small children running around like a chicken with her head cut off 90% of the time. dinner is insane enough at our house with 2 kids to feed and get in the tub/bed by 6:45ish without the pressure of trying new recipes every other night.

duh. not sure how to articulate why mowing the lawn helped me see this, but it did. i'm sure if i reflected some more i could more appropriately explain, but alas it is time for bed in the house of sleepless babes. the moral of the story? if i can do a better job mowing the lawn, something i haven't done in 15 years, than preparing dinner, which i do every night, maybe i'm spending my precious energy in the wrong place. therefore, i hereby pledge not to try a new recipe for the next month.

poll

I am in our church's mom's group here...I volunteer in the meals ministry which requires that I prepare occasional meals for new mothers and sometimes our two priests. The request was for two portions of a healthy dinner by 3p. The priests then warm them up whenever they are ready to eat.

So I decided to make my favorite breaded baked chicken breasts. Here is the breading mixture (the recipe is for nuggets, but I leave the breasts in tact), and here is the recipe for my side dish, Beets n Sweets. I'm also including a side of Uncle Ben's 90 second Wild n Brown Rice, and Symphony Brownies for dessert and two kiwis for a taste of fruit.

Here is where we need your help. I say, roasted vegetables are healthy. I've prepared this dish before and let me tell you it is TASTY. And healthy. And filling. And it re-heats well. And generally speaking, I've found people in the South love them some sweet potatoes. One of our priests is from Houston, the other is from India.

Clay says: Baked breaded chicken with wild rice and brownies are all fine - quite good, in fact. My problem is with the sweet potato, beet and onion concoction. Maybe I've become a tad jaded as the last month has yielded vegan culinary surprises such as mushroom loaf, crunchy vegetable risotto (not supposed to be crunchy), and four unopened quarts of non-dairy ice cream (why bother?!). Past experience notwithstanding, this roasted vegetable dish is far outside of what I'd call the generally accepted cooking practices. On the Interesting Food Spectrum, we've gone far beyond "unique," we just passed "hmm... interesting" and are perilously close to "Ugghhh - what IS this?!" All kidding aside, it's not a mainstream dish and isn't appropriate to serve to someone whose tastes you don't know.

So...help us out. Am I ridiculous for preparing a unique side dish? I find when we are the blessed recipients of prepared meals something unexpected is an appreciated change from the usual (albeit tasty) casserole. I bet they get casseroles 70% of the time. I just thought I'd mix it up.

So please vote on the right. Thanks for your help.

new sleep rules

the boy rarely sleeps more than 90 minutes at a time. like EVER. day or night. often at night it is more like 20 - 40 minutes. TOTALLY not enough sleep for ANYBODY. i'm starting to lose it. actually, i've pretty much lost 'it' all at this point so i've got to try something different. just hoping he grows into a better sleeper isn't working.

so...the analyst in me has decided to implement some new sleep rules. it's all about the illusion of control...but even if it takes a month before it works it isn't like i'm getting any less sleep than i was before. just less comfortable sleep.

night sleep:
1. after the night time routine he goes in the crib, in the magic merlin suit. if he starts to cry, he must cry showing no signs of self soothing for 5 minutes straight before i go in/get up.
2. when i do go in/get up, i try just the paci first with head & tummy rubbing. i try this for 1 minute before i pick him up to soothe.
3. if i do pick up, i hold him for no longer than 1 minute after he's soothed.
4. if he starts to cry again, he must cry showing no signs of self soothing for 5 minutes straight before i do the paci/pick up aided soothing.
5. repeat until he's alseep or until 11p or 4a when i'll feed him.

last night i slept on his floor...somehow it is easier to listen to him cry when i'm right there. the sound of his cries via the monitor somehow trigger a physical reaction of urgency & anxiety in me that i MUST respond to, whereas when i'm right there on his floor i can manage a little cheer for him in my head. it goes something like this..."come on buddy...you can do it, i know you can! that's it...good soothing...you can do it big boy. i'm doing my part...i'm teaching you what you can expect...now you do your part...you can do it!!" somehow i can't do that from my room through the monitor so his floor it shall be until we get this figured out. it's not like i'm getting any less sleep, just a little less comfortable sleep. and best to do it while dad is still home to man luci's monitor. he was treated to a few wake ups himself from her last night...fun times for all.

last night he cried off & on (more on) from 9:30p to 11p when i fed him - he fell right to sleep after that. he was up again at 2:30a, and i let him cry off & on (more on) till 4a when i fed him again. he then talked to himself a bit and he may have cried 5 minutes (can't really remember), but then went right back to sleep after the first paci attempt. he then slept until 7a...which is pretty awesome for him. usually the time between the 4a-ish feeding to 7a is filled with 20 minute wake-ups. overall, not bad for a first night but a well rested house we are NOT.

day sleep:
1. after the sleep time routine (1 song) he goes in the crib, in the magic merlin suit. if he starts to cry, he must cry showing no signs of self soothing for 5 minutes straight before i go in.
2. when i do go in, i try just the paci first with head & tummy rubbing. i try this for 1 minute before i pick him up to soothe.
3. if i do pick up, i hold him for no longer than 1 minute after he's soothed.
4. if he starts to cry again, he must cry showing no signs of self soothing for 5 minutes straight before i do the paci/pick up aided soothing.
5. repeat until he's asleep, or until he's been in his crib for a total of 1 1/2 hours.

for some reason it's been harder to let him self soothe than it was luci. maybe because she was better at it, maybe because she didn't wake as frequently, maybe because she didn't have the reflux for so long (i wasn't worried with her that the crying caused pain)...maybe because there was no big sister to wake up during the process...maybe maybe maybe. who knows. all i know is that i've had a headache & an eye twitch for over 3 months now and i'm spent. i know where the phrase 'i'm so tired i can't see straight' comes from. i need to sleep. we all do. our family dynamic will be better for it.

wish me luck with day 1, night 2.

ps. i have 5 month photos...just no energy to put together that post yet. it'll come...better late than never.

like a sister

We were SO lucky to have a visit from our friends the Tankborns this weekend. Jen & I have been bffs for so long that she's like a sister...we grew up together, we went to college together (although we had healthy separation, I might add ;), lived together in our 20s in Chicago... She's just like a sister. And despite the 1000+ miles that now separate us, the changes in our marital status & kiddos...it's still the same when we get together.

And yes, I am as tired as I look...although I'm not wearing any makeup so cut me some slack...

And it seems our kiddos feel like cousins ;)

Unfortunately no big family photo! Per usual I didn't break out my camera until last night, and we said good-bye this AM. Boo. We all had tons of fun, and Clay had a blast commiserating with someone who fully appreciates & understands my adorable personality quirks ;) Like the fact that I bought the biggest pan that Sam's Club had...because...why wouldn't you...even though it is so big it doesn't even fit on our stove...and then they had a good laugh about my recent two week stint as a vegan...(needs to be a post unto itself)! There is something very warm & fuzzy about how our friendship continues to endure & grow despite such significant life changes and distance. It's like a security blanket I hope I never outgrow.

Thank you so much Jen & Paul for coming down & bringing that sweet boy with you...love you more than you know!

lu logic

this post has been almost 2 months in the making now cause I never have time to sit down & do justice to her burgeoning personality...so I've decided to let go of my ideally composed post, and just get this down & out before it's no longer fresh!

for the longest time we'd be talking about something and she'd say, "what is [x] about?"
examples...
me: time to make dinner!
l: what's dinner about?
me: it's about food!
-
l: whats mom about?
me: i don't know, what IS mom about?
l: um...probably about play
-
l: ouchie.
me: what is ouchie about?
l: corners

scene: uncle sunidh & aunt brooke had just been for a visit. aunt lee (who is married to uncle keith) was coming next...
me: lu, who is coming to visit next? aunt lee?
l: and uncle su-keith?

scene: me feeding gus in the chair, not being able to see l on the stairs behind me.
me: where are you?
l: i'm frozing.
me: you are what?
l: i'm just frozing up here.
me: i don't understand. you are frozing?
l: yes. its about wind up toy prince. i'm frozing. (referring to an episode of Einstiens when the Toy Prince is frozen by the evil Mouse King)

scene: first attempt at candyland
me: so, here is how this works (proceed to explain the rules)
l: where is the lollipop?
me: no lollipop...just pretend, a game with pictures of candy
l: looooolllliiiiiiipoooopppp [tears]....i wanna looooolllliiiippoooooopppppp. is it in here? (referring to the plastic enclosed stack of cards)
me: no, those are the cards we use to play
l: i waaannnnnnaaaa loooolliiiiipooooooppppp....

scene: listening to 'mom music'. the song imma be by the black eyed peas.
me: imma be, imma be, imma be, imma be, imma be living the good life, imma be livin the good, good life.
l: mama be, mama be, mama be, mama be, mama be a good wife, mama be a good, good wife

scene: looking at the instructions to candyland
l: can you read the news? i love the news! i gonna read the news. i can follow the path!

scene: looking for anything not within sight
me: lu, can you go upstairs & get an [x] please?
l: um, probably not. you can do it.

scene: lu asking to do something...i think i didn't answer quickly enough...
l: can i [x]?
m: ummmmmm
l: did you hear what i just said?
[i often ask her to repeat what i just said when i know she isn't listening]

scene: riding in the car...the sun coming in down on her
l: NO THANK YOU SUN. NO. THANKYOU.

and a few fantastic luci quotes...
-first we have to change poops, then we go to the ball!
-i like mama instead of dad. i like mama and gus, not dad. i want mama instead of dad. then, a few minutes later, i like dad instead of mama. i want dad instead of mama.
-this is not a very special restaurant (@ Johnny Rockets)...i wanna go home
-what's on (or in, we weren't certain what she said) your nose, boss. (to her dad). are you boss?!?!?
-it's almost broken!!! it's almost be broken! (as the evil stepmother trips the grand duke in cinderella)