21/52

I missed 20/52...oops.

But these are from the weekend!

Yes, I feed my little girl bacon (only one half piece!). She thinks it is the most delicious thing ever.


Big boy trying cereal for the first time. Not a fan of the cereal, but a definite fan of carrots and apples!

Easton: Four Months

Vital Stats
Easton wears 6-month day clothes and 9-month pajamas. Mommy has a 12-month suit Grandma got on a garage sale, and she is going to try to fit him into it for a wedding in a few weeks. It will be close! Easton weighs 17 pounds and is 27 inches (plus or minus one inch...Natalie was "helping"). He is a big boy! Mommy is curious what percentiles he will be at his 4-month checkup in a week.

Milestones This Month

Easton is doing better and better with tummy time. A few weeks ago he kept rolling tummy-to-back but then apparently decided he doesn't want to any more, since he stopped. He sits pretty well with help, and loves to stand in his exersaucer and jumparoo.

Sleeping

Easton is sleeping through the night in his crib! Mommy is very, very excited. It only took one sad night of sleep training and since then Easton puts himself to sleep (with a little crying) before the first "check" (used in sleep training) and sleeps all night long! Naps, however, are another story. Mommy wonders why both her children were terrible infant nappers while still being good nighttime sleepers.

Eating

Two nights before Easton turned four months, he drank 14oz of formula before bed. The next night Mommy gave him cereal. He ate it once, and then never wanted it again, the same as his big sister. So Mommy moved on to carrots. He LOVES carrots! They are so tasty, and he doesn't even mind when there is some cereal mixed in with them. He also has tried apples, and they are pretty yummy, too. Mommy is very excited he is into solid food. The first time he had carrots he cried when Mommy wouldn't give him any more. Easton was pushing 40oz a day of formula (general guidelines are when a baby reaches 32oz he/she is ready for solids) but is now back to around 26-30oz per day with three small meals of solids.

Communication

Easton likes to smile and giggle. He loves to interact with his sister, and she likes to entertain him. So far she is good about sharing toys, but that is probably because she can still take them away when she wants them back. Easton loves to watch himself in the mirror and watch the world around him. He is very content to sit in his bouncer and watch everyone move around. 

Play Time

Easton's favorite toy is still his bouncer, but he is getting more and more time in his exersaucer and jumparoo. He doesn't jump yet but he does enjoy standing there and watching Natalie play with his toys. He will play some with the toys on his exersaucer. He is using his activity mats a little bit more, and will grab and play with the toys hanging from his bouncer.

sleep training

For those of you fortunate enough to never have to sleep train your child, count yourself blessed.

It's not the world's most enjoyable activity. But the benefits make it worth it.

Natalie was a breeze to sleep train. She was already used to sleeping in her crib, all night, but she had just started to wake several times at night for her pacifier. Literally one night of sleep training, during which she just woke a few times and put herself back to sleep within minutes, and we were done. Easy peasy.

Easton, however, had been sleeping in the swing for a couple of months. The last month he was waking up for his pacifier, even while in the swing. I was not anticipating an easy go of it. I figured it would take several nights of really poor sleep before he would finally sleep all night in his crib, without his pacifier.

Dr. Ferber ("Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems") is a genius. That's all I have to say.

Easton's first night of sleep training was rough, as I had imagined it would be. He woke up four times during the night. I finished Miss Congeniality and started Ocean's Eleven. The longest he was awake was from 2-3am, after which he slept until morning, only waking himself up once but going back to sleep within minutes with only some minor fussing. Darren very kindly got up with him and Natalie around 7am and let me sleep in. The next night it was Darren's turn with Easton. I kept telling him, "I hope your night goes better than mine!"

And it was. I was really excited the next morning when Darren told me Easton didn't wake him up at all. I didn't necessarily take that to mean that Easton never woke up, though. Darren is a heavy sleeper, so I figured if Easton did wake up, he didn't cry long enough or hard enough to wake up Darren.

And it continued. Last night neither one of us heard Easton at all during the night after his last bottle around 9:30. We did hear him a couple times before that, although he put himself back to sleep before the first "check." He slept from 9:30-7:00am without waking either one of us up.

Sleep training success.

19/52

A Mother's Day picture with my kiddos. Probably shouldn't have sat in the sun because we are all squinting!

18/52

Entry Shelf



Our entry area is long and narrow, so we don't have room for the nice mud-room style built-ins I always wanted. Fortunately, there's ana-white.com. Darren found plans for this awesome shelf.

 

He made it in the winter and we weren't able to paint it until it warmed up outside.

 

There were even plans for little pallet boxes.



Too cute!

Easton: Three Months

Vital Stats
Easton is still wearing six-month clothing and can’t really fit into his three-month things any more. Mommy remembered to take his picture when he turned three months but forgot to weigh and measure him. :(

Milestones This Month

Easton tries to giggle sometimes. He will either produce a very strange sound or will make no sound with his mouth wide open in a big smile. Easton is a supported sitter and likes to sit in his Bumbo or on Mommy and Daddy’s laps. Easton holds his head and upper body up pretty well during tummy time on Mommy’s lap, but when he is on the floor he smashes his face to his blanket and cries.

Sleeping

Mommy is very excited that Easton is now sleeping through the night! He started sleeping 9 hours when he turned 12 weeks old. Currently he sleeps in his swing at night, but Mommy will take what she can get.

Eating

Easton will take 5-8 ounces of formula at each bottle, typically eating a whopping 36oz per day! He is almost ready for solids and Mommy can’t wait because she is hoping it will improve his naps and stretch out the time between bottles, which is every 2.5-3.5 hours.

Communication

Easton loves to smile at everyone. A stranger can smile at him and he will smile back. It seems like he is starting to try and giggle. He also loves to “talk” to Mommy and Daddy in his baby language.

Play Time

Easton loves to kick, kick, kick in his bouncer. He will get that thing going! Sometimes when Mommy is downstairs she can hear him through the ceiling just bouncing away. He loves to watch his toys swing back and forth when he is bouncing. He also enjoys trying to grab things held in front of his face. This is difficult, though, because typically his big sister will try to come and take it away if it’s held still for too long.

Big sister wanted to hold his sign.

"Here, Easton, you take it."

One. Two. Three?

Bad things come in three’s, or so I’ve always heard.

One: Two nights ago, Natalie was sitting in her booster at the kitchen island on a counter-height stool. She was happily eating pizza and fruit, chattering away to me while I went through the mail. All of a sudden she and the chair are on the floor. She had kicked back off the counter, tipping herself over backwards. She banged the back of her head pretty good, resulting in quite the bump, which resulted in a call to the clinic after-hours line. Instructions to monitor her for the rest of the evening and wake her once during the night were all that came about, fortunately.

Two: Last night during bath time Natalie fell and smacked her face against the edge of the tub. Later Darren noticed a chipped front tooth. Poor little thing. After a call to the dentist it was discovered that nothing is really done for chipped baby teeth.

Three: ?

I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or would that be the third shoe?