First Week Back / Summer Thoughts

Katelyn:

Katie has been more and more mobile. She is really good at rolling over and sitting up, and she still gets up on her hands and feet. She's not crawling yet, but she will be, soon. Still, she can do some major scooting. Or sometimes she will lay down, roll over, and sit up again just to see what new place she ends up in!

She has cut all four front teeth now!

She had a generally good attitude this first week back. On Thursday and Friday, Grant had orientation for Geoff's new school, and I, of course, was  back at school as well, so on Thursday Tammy came over to babysit with Danny and on Friday Donna and Gary were here. Katelyn (both of the kids, really) did well. There were occasional bouts of fussiness, of course, but mostly she was just fine.

THis week she has really been upping her game with solids. Grant made her carrots and she seems to LOVE them. She's also had some banana and avocado this week. I think the increase in solids is really going to help withthe fact that she isn't getting much milk during the day. She doesn't drink from a bottle or a sippy cup. Grant does mix milk into her cereal and her veggies, but she gets the bulk of her breast milk from me -

Which leads to sleep. Sleep training has been going well and she goes to sleep with little problems. I do nurse her right before she goes to sleep, but at least half - if not most nights - I still put her down awake - if she is not totally zonked I sing her a song to rouse her a bit or sometimes - if she is awake - I read her a story, aqnd then sing, and she still goes to sleep with little protesting. (She does sleep on her tummy, though. I put her in her crib and she rolls right over.) Still 0 she's waking up aprx. every four hours. This week she goes down at 9 and then wakes up at 1 and 4 and then 9 again. If she wakes up after 4, I don't wake her up to eat again and that seems to work ok. (Plus I get to work a little early.) On Friday, though, she woke up every three hours.

I feel like I should cut a night feeding so she learns to sleep longer, but I am still afraid that she needs t hat extra feeding to get enough breastmilk in her diet. She - of course - LOOKS quite healthy. She has those adorable rolls on her legs and she is well into her nine month clothes (she seems to be a very long baby, too, based on how her clothes are fitting...) Well, my plan for now is to go for another week so she can really establish solids as part of her diet, and then maybe next weekend I will think about trying to reduce or cut that 1AM feeding...

Geoff:

Geoff is happy to be home - although now he keeps saying he wants to go back to walt disney world. lol. He is loves playing with Danny, and has enjoyed having Cori and Andrew come over. Sharing is still an issue, of course. I asked him if he was excited that Katelyn was getting bigger and that she's be able to play with him more, and he said, "No because I don't want to share with her."
He was also complaining that Cori was coming over because he didn't want her to play with his toys. and I said, "Fine, do you want me to call Angie and tell her not to come over and play?" Geoffrey responds, "Well, she can come over for dinner and she can swim in the jacuzzi but that's all." 

However, I will say that he is, in his own way, trying. He will come over and take toys away from Katie, and then seem to second guess and give her another toy to replace the one he has taken. (Sometimes she cries when he takes toys away and sometimes she laughs - but if he thinks about is, he will replace her toy no matter what - as in, he doesn't just do it if she cries.) It is a start!

Geoffrey is still pushing boundaries at times, and whining/crying has become an issue - and it really irritates me, I must say! - but he doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as he was at the beginning of the summer. So hopefully he will grow out of that phase. 

Geoffrey starts preschool at Hilltop next week. It will certainly be interesting to see how he does there being left alone, how he enjoys it, and how it will affect him at home! Angie is coming over on Monday so that Grant has the option to stay with Geoffrey all day if needed so he can have at least one day to get used to the new place and the new schedule. He will be going on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am also planning to meet them at the end of his day on Monday so i can see how his first day goes! (I am so glad Hilltop is so close to Allen!)