17/52

16/52

Leslie Patricelli books

A couple weeks ago I bought Natalie a potty for potty-training, and I also bought her some "potty books," one of which was a book by Leslie Patricelli.

Natalie loves it. The pictures and captions are pretty funny. I had a few chuckles the first time we read it. I also bought her "Yummy Yucky," which contrasts things that are "yummy" with things that are "yucky." Best line: "Burgers are yummy. Boogers are yucky."

Leslie Patricelli has a few other contrast books like "Quiet Loud" and "Big Little." They are both on my wish list for Natalie.

 

These books are definitely becoming a favorite in our house!

STTN...essentially

The last three nights Easton has gone 9+ hours without waking. Or I should say without eating. One of the nights he did wake up and I gave him the nuk, but other than that no wake-ups.

It has been really awesome. I'd like to say he's sleeping through the night (STTN), and essentially he is, BUT he is sleeping in his swing.

Sad face.

Pretty soon we will start working towards sleeping in the crib. I will give him two weeks or so of solid sleeping (just to make sure he is really ready for it, and so I know when he wakes up in the middle of the night in his crib he doesn't really need to eat) before we make that transition, and during that time I will probably try to get him to sleep in the swing without it actually moving. It is set to the lowest level, so being still is the next step. He will fall asleep in it that way for naps, but I haven't tested it out at night yet to see if he will STAY asleep. That's the key.

I won't really consider us to be successfully STTN until he sleeps all night in his crib without needing to eat, which may or may not involve sleep training. And honestly, I'm excited for it. I'm ready to sleep all night in my room without a baby in there with me.

15/52

Sitting nice and calm like big kids. :)

Utility Room Door: A Before and After

This lovely area is our utility room.

 

 

It's real looker, let me tell you. If you remember, we recently put in shelving.

 

 

This is what the utility room door looked like before: it didn't exist. Major bummer. We did have a baby gate up to keep Natalie from eletrocuting herself or anything else equally bad. The gate was kind of a hassle, and the washer/dryer were so loud it was hard to hear the TV without blasting it.

 

 

So we put in a door. That baby took a long time to varnish, let me tell you. I have decided that varnishing and I are not going to get along, and the less time we spend together, the better.

But in the end, it was worth it. I love having a door. Keeps the noise in. Keeps Natalie out.

 

8 hours

There is nothing like 8 hours. It's a magical number, honestly.

Last night Easton went 8 hours between feedings for the first time.

(insert angelic chorus: "HALLELUJAH!")

I fed him at 9:40 last night, when he pounded down 7 ounces. Hungry, hungry baby! Then he woke up at exactly 5:41 this morning. I know, because it was 4 minutes before my alarm was going to go off.

It. Was. Amazing.

I do believe there was a single pacifier insert somewhere in the deep, dark, middle of the night. But these things can be hard to remember since I basically operate in a zombie-like state in the midnight hours.

Easton has every so sloooooowwwwlllyyyy been stretching out his nights, so hopefully we are getting closer to no more nighttime feedings. Which leads me to my next point: how come no one told me BEFORE that boys don't sleep as well?! What's up with that? Andplusalso, how ironic because men in general sleep like the dead! It's a strange, strange world.

Why I Love...

...Smart Sliders.

 

 

If you're like me and like to rearrange your furniture, there is nothing like Smart Sliders. My mom bought these for us when we bought our new house, and they have been awesome! I can move anything on these bad boys.

 

 

 

I moved this dresser from Natalie's room to Easton's room yesterday, all by myself. And that thing is HEAVY, but I got it done with the Smart Sliders.

 

I just popped them under the corners and the dresser slid like magic down the hall.

They also came with fuzzy covers for use on hardwood/tile/ceramic/etc.

Definitely a good investment!

first day

My first day at my new job is tomorrow.

It seems so surreal. I haven't been working for almost four months now, and life has changed a lot in that time. It's strange to think of getting up (almost) every day and going to work again.

What I'm most looking forward to is the chance to interact with adults. It's nice to have a reason to get up and shower and put on makeup every morning, other than that you don't want to scare everyone when you go to Target. I'm also really looking forward to the paychecks. It's been tight with just Darren's income.

I'm not looking forward to being away from my babies all day. Well, some days it will probably be nice, but in general it's going to be hard. And sad. I'm afraid I am going to miss so much. At least when I went back to work after I had Natalie she was home with Darren. That made it sooo much easier. But now I'll be leaving my kiddos with a stranger! I'm pretty worried about how Natalie will handle it. Easton will be fine; at this point he doesn't care what happens so long as he has a full tummy, a clean diaper, and someone to put his pacifier in...

I think I'm more worried about the kids than I am my new job! Wish me luck!

14/52

Week 14 of The 52 Project.

"UP!"

In this house, "up" can mean many things.

It can mean, literally, "up."

It can mean, "Put me in my chair now, woman, it's time to eat!"

It can mean, when said in a whiney tone, "MOOOOOMMMMMYYYY, HELP! I CAN'T GET ON THE COUCH. UUUUPPPPPPP!!!!!"

And lately, it can mean "Mickey Mouse." Not totally sure how this one came about, but she will point at the TV and say, "Up! Up!" Took me a while to figure that one out.

my daughter is brave

A little while ago I was vacuuming in the basement. Natalie was playing with her teddy bear, pushing it around in her baby doll stroller.

About a month ago she developed a slight fear of the vacuum cleaner when she accidentally turned it on herself. It freaked her out and she screamed bloody murder the rest of the time I was vacuuming. It has since progressed to a sudden startle and a mad dash in the opposite direction whenever the vacuum is started up.

I had vacuumed Easton's room, the hallway, and Natalie's room, and was working on the family room. Each time I stopped and started the vacuum (because I'm one of those freaks who moves all the furniture every time) Natalie would give a little jump, drop whatever she was holding, and go tearing out of the room.

So she's in the living room, playing with Teddy, and I start up the vacuum. She drops Teddy and books it to the other side of the room, since I'm blocking her exit. But, she is brave. She sees Teddy, lying there so innocent and helpless, about to be attacked by that evil vacuum monster. So, eying the fearsome beast every step of the way, she slinks up to Teddy, grabs him by the arm, and goes scurrying out of the room, still keeping a close watch on the attacker.

She won't leave a man behind, that one. My daughter is brave.

sleep deprivation

When Natalie was 8 weeks old, she started sleeping through the night.

And not just the clinical definition of 6 hours...oh, no. She slept ten hours. TEN HOURS. It was amazing.

But Easton, oh, Easton. He is so far from sleeping through the night it's ridiculous. I have no idea what's up with him. He is such a big baby, he should have been pulling 7-8 hour nights several weeks ago already.

It's not fun. Not fun at all. And I'm at a loss. I hate to just let him cry, even though I'm SURE he doesn't need to eat every four hours at night. I mean, that's ridiculous. He weighs 13 pounds! I have noticed, however, that he takes really good naps in his swing. I'm tempted to stick him in it tonight and see how well he sleeps. Is he waking because he is hungry? Or is he just waking because he is a terrible sleeper and decides he needs to eat while he's up? I tend to think the latter. Bummer.

13/52

 Week 13 of The 52 Project.