Slushy magic

Thank Goodness for downloaded shows, on-demand, and DVR. Jeffrey almost never watches commercials, because the only TV shows he really watches on Disney Junior. However he has one show that he watches that has a commercial on it for something called slushy magic. Every time he sees the commercial he says, " I want that!" Today, he spotted it at the store. "Is that slushy magic?" he asked. "I'm really excited because he said you can do it over and over again." He was, of course reciting what he had learned from the commercial. I think we are going to get him one for Christmas.

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Geoffrey - Preschooler

So Geoffrey is adjusting to preschool. Drop offs can be rough - at first he would scream and one of the teachers would need to hold him - but he seems to be doing better. Lately it has been a few tears and whimpers but that's it. The teachers all say that after Grant leaves Geoff is fine within five minutes, and he seems to have a blast playing there! Grant pointed out that he likes that Geoffrey has fun after the initial drop off- that there are other students who seem to mope the whole time their parents are gone. So I am glad that Geoffrey enjoys it.

When Grant works, he says that Geoffrey follows Ms. Lynette all over the place. Sigh. I spend far too much time worrying if his behavior is "normal." I ask Grant all the time, "Is he the only kid who cries?" "He doesn't play with other kids. Is the only one who doesn't?" "Do you think he bugs the teacher following her around?" It is so funny that I wanted him at a play-based preschool yet I am constantly worried if he is "normal," while Grant was concerned about him being in a more structured program and is perfectly relaxed with Geoffrey doing his thing.

Oh - they also are starting up a fun - non-competitive soccer program caled TOt Shots. Last Tuesday was a free class so the kids could try. Geoffrey liked it so I think we are going to sign him up!

Now that Katie is more mobile, Geoffrey is very concerned about his toys. He isn't very understanding yet and he can be kind of rough with her. Fortunately, Katie just loves the attention so for now it mostly amuses her.

Geoffrey also has this fantastic excuse that he uses with Katie and Cori, "I can't because I don't know how to share." Stinker.

Other fun Geoffrey sayings:

At the pumpkin patch Geoffrey was ready to go home. "I'm ready to go home. I'm full of fun."

Geoffrey brought his blanket, pillows, and four or five stuffed animals to the bottom of the stairs after his nap. I asked im what he was doing and he said, "That way if I fall down the stairs I can be comfy cozy."

We went to the Verizon store and Geoffrey picked up a box with a car charger in it and sauid. "This costs 4G dollars." (I am also impressed by the reading!)He also said, " I need a phone. I don't have one yet. Also a car."

We had a tickle fight one morning and he named our bed, "Tickle flower garden."

Katelyn / 9 months

So, I was planning to blog after Katleyn's 9 month visit - however, due to changing insurance types, her appointment got postponed. So I am waaaay behind!

In addition, Aunt Tammy and Uncle Andy are living with us for awhile, and I just had Back to School Night - so things have been sort of crazy!

So what has Katie been up to?

Eating - she is eating solids like a champ. We've been giving her small pieces of table foods - toast, cheese, pizza - pretty much whatever we are eating except for the allergy stuff (eggs, honey, nuts...) and she is doing great! SHe seems to love to eat! She's been doing slightly better with drinking milk at home, and she seems interested in drinking water from a sippy cup, too. She's still not doing full feedings from the bottle, but she's eating so many solids that she is fine during the day. She has not yet learned how to pick up food herself, but she'll get there!

Sleep - About three weeks ago, I cur her middle of the night feeding. At first, I offered her a bottle instead of me - for about 4 night. She didn't drink it and ended up just going back to sleep. Then I spent a few nights just picking her up and rocking her and then putting her back down. She tended to fall asleep pretty quickly. She even did a few nights where she slept straight through to 5 or 5:30. (She's been going down around 8:30 - 9:00) Then she started waking up again, and a few of those nights needed me to come in a few times to pick her up and rock her before she fell asleep. I have been implementing a new step to sleep training each weekend - so I have Friday and Saturday to adjust and I can sleep in if I need to. However with Tammy moving in and back to school night, I got off a little bit.

This weekend, however, I started not picking her up when she woke up in the middle of the night - just talking to her. She does this weird thing, though, where she sits up and cries - and I get nervous that she is so tired she can't figure out how to lay back down. So on Friday, I laid her down but didn't pick her up. Grant helped too and it took er about an hour to go to sleep. (the complicated part is when she's fussy - like making noises every few minutes - but not full out crying - to go in or not to go in???) Last night (Saturday) she slept straight through to 5:30!

So this week, we will continue with not picking her up if she cries to hopefully get her to soothe herself through the night. Eventually, if I can get her to sleep until 6:00 or 6:30 (her morning feeding is usually around 5-5:30)I wouldn't mind getting her to bed a little bit earlier - she's currently waking up around 9:00 and it would be ok if she woke up around 8.

Crawling - Katie is crawling like a champ now. She can get anywhere she wants to go, much to Geoffrey's chagrin - ha ha. She is also quite proficient at pulling herself up to standing. She has a new lion that she got from Julie and Penelope Fox that she can pull herself upto play on, and she likes her musical table, too.

She has been grinding her teeth lately. It is very disconcerting - that sound.... :::shiver::: She also still has that big bump in her mouth, so that's probably my biggest concern at her upcoming dr. appointment. If they say it has to  be removed, well, that can't be pleasant. They may just say that it is fine, but I worry because It has been there for such a long time...

Another tooth!

Katelyn Has her Fifth tooth! Top on her left second one over from the middle

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Crawling

So miss Katie is crawling! It's a new skill and she is still easing into it, but she has a cute little thing she does. She does a really great "traditional" crawl with her arms, and then she does more of a hop forward with her legs (on her knees). It's really cute! She is starting to get the idea of moving her legs one at a time but she defaults to keeping then together and doing her hop thing.

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Geoffrey's first two days at Hilltop Preschool

Geoffrey started preschool on Monday, September 10, 2012. He is in the seeds program at Hilltop Preschool in Fountain Valley. He will be going on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Luckily, I (Grant) was also scheduled to work that day, so we didn't have to worry about me leaving him by himself the first day.  Geoffrey was very shy at first, hiding behind my legs.  As soon as he saw the playground he was off and I probably didn't see him for an hour, he was having so much fun.  I had talked up the fact that he was allowed to go barefoot at preschool and his shoes were off from the moment he stepped on the playground until we left at the end of the day!  He finally came in for snack time and checked in with me. 

Geoffrey spent most of his time playing by himself or alongside other kids.  Once inside, he had a lot of time playing in the "loft" where the babies were.  He was playing up there with 2 other boys!  He was very cooperative and had no problem staying with the group.  At lunch, I sat down and joined him.  When the day ended, Bobbi met us to see Geoffrey for a few minutes. After she left, he played on the playground outside while I cleaned inside.

Geoffrey's second day of preschool was Tuesday, September 11, 2012.  I was not scheduled to work this day and had not arranged any childcare for Katelyn, so Geoffrey was definitely going to spend some of the day by himself.  We got to preschool a little before 930.  Katelyn and I stayed with him on the playground until about 10, when i tried to leave.  He had a fit and ran after me screaming.  I told him that I would stay a little longer.  I figured I would stay until snack and he would be more distracted.  it didn't work.  As soon as I told him I was leaving, he started crying and clinged on to me.  Lynette, the director and also one of the Seeds teachers asked me if she could help.  I told her I thought it would be better for him if I left quickly and that I didn't think he would cry for long.  I gave him a kiss and told him I would see him after lunch.  He immediately started screaming and Lynette picked him up.  I quickly left.  As I left I heard him scream "PUT ME DOWN", and Lynette said "I will in a moment".  I quickly left and didn't look back.  When I got to my car, parked on the street behind the preschool I could still hear him screaming.

I returned just after lunch when they were sitting down to story time.  Geoffrey didn't see me come in.  When I came in, one of the dads who was working told me he cried for about 10 minutes and then was fine.  All the kids were sitting on the carpet, and Geoffrey was directly in front of Lynette actively engaging in the story. You could tell he had really taken to her, but also that he wasn't used to large group situations.  For example, when Lynette would turn to a page that interested Geoffrey, he would stand up, point to what was interesting to him and start talking over Lynette, who was reading the story.  When this happened, one of the girls behind him whose view he was blocking said "I can't see".  Lynette then said "Geoffrey, when you are done looking at the picture, could you please sit on your bottom so everyone else can see?"  Geoffrey sat right down. 

After the story was over, he got up and finally saw me, then came over and said hi.  We sang the goodbye song and then went and played at the park next to preschool.

Week one went well. I think he is going to really enjoy this school, especially once he gets the hang of going there on his own!

Two Random Katie facts

Katie rarely puts things in her mouth. It is very weird to not worry about giving her, say, a crayon to manipulate without worrying but I have yet to see her put anything in her mouth except for her own hand.

SOmetimes, katelyn will lose her voice, and then she gets a sort of scratchy, faded out tone to her babbling and crying.

Play Time Problem

Last night, Geoffrey and Katelyn and I were up in the play room. Katelyn was using one of Geoffrey's trash trucks to practice supporting herself on while on her knees. Geoffrey said, "Katelyn I want to play with that!"

I replied, "Geoffrey, Katelyn's using that right now. Can't you use another trash truck right now?"

"Well, That's the only side loader that I want to play with right now. That's the only one."

"Hmmm..." I said. "Well, is there a back loader you could share with Katelyn?"

"Oh!" Geoffrey says looking around at his fleet of trash trucks, "Oh, Sure! She can use this one!"

So he gently takes the side loader away and then sets the front loader (which is the same size) right where Katelyn would need it.

Problem Solved!

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!)