Randomness

So, there are a few updates that I've (accidentally) left off of the blog. The first pretty big one around here is that Wyatt has finally had some peanut butter. That's right. He's one month away from his second birthday and he had peanut butter for the first time last weekend. In case you can't tell, we follow Dr. Jones' recommendations to the T. That's why we wait until 6 months to give baby food, waited until he was over a year to put him to sleep with a blanket, and never put them to bed on their bellies. Yeah, there's that while co-sleeping thing, but it's only for an hour (or two...or the whole night after she wakes up...). I figure our Pediatrician is a pretty educated guy who raised three daughters of his own, so he probably knows what he's doing! Anyway, Dr. Jones said we could give it to him anytime after 18 months. We wanted to wait until 21 months, just in case. So we were all hyped to give him peanut butter, but then had to be more concerned about Salmonella poisoning than a peanut allergy! I'm happy to report that he's had the peanut butter, loves it, and will definitely eat more if he's anything like his Daddy.


Reese started jumping in her Jumparoo this week and she LOVES it. She hasn't mastered bouncing yet, but she does like the toys and music. Another family member that we didn't expect to love the jumper, but has definitely taken a liking to it, is Monkey. Anytime that Reese isn't hanging out in her jumper, Monkey probably is. He apparently also likes to use it as a swing, because Wyatt pushes him around in it and says "Weeeeee" a lot. And yes, we do consider Monkey to be a family member. He even eats dinner with us. I just have to keep him away from the peanut butter.

The Festivities

Tonight we gave Reese rice cereal for dinner. She LOVED it. She's been watching me eat lately and moving her head towards my spoon, so when the spoon came her way tonight she ate like a pro. She took a few little bites, but then she took some huge bites. Her first solid food experience went much better than Wyatt's. He cried the entire time and then reached out and flipped the bowl and covered himself with cereal. Reese smiled and she even reached for the bowl to try to drink from it!

After dinner we all put on our party hats (seriously, we wore hats...Dora ones) and sang Happy Half Birthday to her. Reese didn't get any of her cake, but her brother sure did! He was a mess and went straight to the bathtub.

I'm anxious to see whether the solids help her sleep a little more. Long gone are the days where my baby girl slept through the night and woke up at 5:30 to eat and go back to sleep. Lately my wake up calls have become more frequent. She is doing a fantastic job learning to put herself to sleep. I usually put her down asleep, but she wakes up about 20 minutes later, cries for a few minutes (and those minutes are getting shorter) and then goes back to sleep. I think I might be able to put her in her own room soon.

"You know what? I think I'm just gonna eat out of the bowl. Thanks."
"That was good!"

Reese's Half Birthday Cake

So happy to be six months old!

The whole family...including Monkey!

Six Months Old!

My precious little baby girl is six months old today! I can't believe how quickly it all seems to be passing by. She's learned to do so much in the last month. Smiles from her are regular, and I can't tell you how happy they make me. She recognizes her name now and she saves her biggest smiles for when she hears "Reese! Reesie Piecey!" She's now sitting up all by herself, laughing out loud when we tickle her tummy, and she's moved up a size in diapers. That's right, she's wearing size 3 Cruisers now. She's huge!



Tonight Reese will try baby cereal for the very first time. I've also made her half birthday cake so we celebrate her first half birthday (she's not going to eat any)! As much as I hate (hate, hate hate) how big she's getting, I'm also really looking forward to the milestones that will come over the next few months. Her first teeth (mainly because I want her pain to stop), crawling, her first steps, and her first words (Wyatt's first word was "Mama" at 6 months, 1 week) are all going to be so special. Just thinking about how big she's getting makes me want another little baby, but I'm in no rush. I want to be able to enjoy every moment with my little girl!





Today was the first monthly birthday that I was working. That means that I did not get to take her picture at 10:07 am today :(! I took some as soon as I got home...here she is!

Newborn

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

"Hey Mommy, wanna come play?"

Sitting In Her High Chair

Playing with her links that she almost never lets out of her grip - thanks Aunt Allison and Uncle T!
Smiling for the camera

Low Key Weekend

Winter has settled back in for the weekend and Brian and I haven't been too eager to take the kids outside. On Friday we went on a date to the movies to see Taken. I thought it was okay, it's not going to win any awards and it wasn't that suspenseful, but it was short which is always a big plus for me! I saw He's Just Not That Into You on Wednesday night, and I have to say that I loved it. It was much better than I was expecting. Brian's just grateful that I went with a friend and didn't make him go with me. I had free movie tickets that I got at work last month as a token of gratitude from the powers that be for watching the 45 kids that came to work with their parents on the day it snowed. That was a great day. I've never been so thankful that I get to walk out of that building at noon.

It's been brought to my attention 4 times this weekend by 4 different people (including both grandmothers :)) that my little girl is a complete Mommy's girl. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately (and LOVING) because she really does want to be with me all the time. She also is still going through her "anti-bottle" phase, which makes things difficult. Brian's going to give her a bottle tonight so we can get her on track again. I don't want weaning her to be difficult. Weaning Wyatt was a breeze, so I have no clue what to do with a difficult to wean child.

Yesterday I did some straightening up. I've removed the pack and play from the family room because I've only been using it as a changing station, and I can just as easily do that in the playroom. I brought Reese's high chair in and got it cleaned up for her big introduction to solids this week. Wyatt also helped me with some additional dusting. He showed such promise for it on Friday that I thought he might like to help some more. (Picture my child singing "It's a Hard Knock Life" and saying "We love you Miss Hannigan" here.)

We also went to Babies R' Us (because I'm an addict) to get some more child-proofing products. We needed to get guards to go around the bottom of our counter tops. Wyatt's head is pretty close to hitting them, and since our counter top stretches over into the family room, we needed to do something. As usual, we also walked out with a few extra clothes for the kids....

We went to Red Robin for dinner with my Mom and precious little sister. Wyatt was well behaved, and he really enjoyed looking around the restaurant at all the pictures. He looked at a King Kong poster and said "Ook a monkey! A BIG Monkey!" When we got home we gave the kids baths and Reese, Wyatt and I all went to sleep at 8. And we all slept until 8. Reese woke up to eat, but she went right back to sleep. She's such a good girl!

Today we've done a lot of hanging around the house...we're really just not that exciting!

Just Say No

I have pretty strong opinions on things involving baseball. I hate steroid use. I hate people who use steroids and destroy the integrity of the game. And yes, when you take steroids, you're destroying the games' integrity. A fundamental part of baseball is the comparison of current players' stats to the statistics of former players. So, for example, when Barry Bonds chose to shoot his butt full of performance enhancing drugs and became the League's Home Run King over a player with uncompromising integrity, he tainted baseball. When A-Fraud chose to pump his system full of the same steroids because he was "under a lot of pressure" he broke the trust of the people (like me) who were rooting for him to break Barry's record so that it could be proven that you didn't have to be juiced to be successful.

For the life of me, I don't understand why Major League Baseball didn't put a stop to this sooner. This is the same organization that clung so tightly to the legend of Babe Ruth that they chose to place an asterisk next to Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs in a single season (another record that has been broken thanks to the use of steroids).

Unlike a lot of fans, I don't forgive athletes who apologize for using steroids. I don't think admitting to it is a sign of strength or humility, and I don't like what it does to the game. I have a little boy who is in love with baseball, and he's only 23 months old. What does it say to him that to be successful you need to pump your body full of unnatural substances? What does it say that money is so important that you need to taint a game that you love, and a game full of absolutely amazing players, to be the best? Steroids disgust me.

On a lighter note, I've decided that I'm going to teach Wyatt that drug use of any kind is not acceptable at an early age. I figure a good starting point is to make A-Fraud a joke, not a hero. I'm taking his Rodriguez shirt out of commission and we're using it as a dusting rag.

He can wear his Jeter shirt as much as he wants, but he will NEVER (even if A-Fraud hits a walk off home run in the World Series, which is unlikely to happen since he does nothing but choke in the post season) wear an A-Fraud jersey again. I won't let him be a hero to my kid. I'd rather put a Youkilis jersey on him.

Making Dinner

With the beginning of Reese's exposure to solids approaching, I decided to start getting her vegetables ready. I know it's easy to go out and buy Gerber baby food, and I do use it for some feedings, but it's also a lot cheaper (and easier) to make some food. When Wyatt was starting solids, I had an ice cube-like tray that I froze his food in. The only problem was the only way to get the food out was to crack the cubes and everything came tumbling out. Last week I went ahead and ordered these from One Step Ahead. I didn't plan on making her baby food yet because she'll be on the cereal for a few weeks, but I had carrots that needed to be eaten, so I decided to make Reese's first veggies.

"Yummy! Veggies!"

When I first started making Wyatt's baby food I bought this book. He loved practically everything that I made him. The carrot recipe was pretty easy, I just steamed the carrots, mixed them with a little butter (the fat actually makes them more nutritious because of something with the beta-carotene) and threw them in the blender to puree. I then divided the carrots into the little cups and voila, veggies for Reese!

Well, sort of. Wyatt hasn't been the biggest fan of veggies since he started eating actual food. So last night I went all Jessica Seinfeld on him and snuck the pureed carrots in his spaghetti sauce. He didn't know the difference. At least I don't think he did, because he asked for seconds, then thirds, and then fourths. I'm going to have start sneaking more food into his dinner....

"More pizza-sketti please Daddy?"

Crying It Out

So Reese is now a week away from being 6 months old. I've never really gotten into a sleeping pattern with her. When Wyatt was 2 months old we started his bath-book-bed nighttime routine. He really responded to it, and even though we had a few setbacks (he did have to cry it out a few times, he started waking up at 4:30), he settled himself into a routine that we all count on every night.

I've been waiting to settle into a routine with Reese for several reasons. The first is that she's still my little baby girl that was in the NICU for 11 days. I don't like to be away from her. I like to make sure she's okay when she's sleeping. That means that she stays downstairs with me until we go upstairs to sleep. She has super sensitive skin, so I don't bathe her every night because I don't want her eczema (or whatever it is) to get too irritated. The final reason is one of practicality. Wyatt is routined. His day is set out for him. I need to keep him regimented and I just haven't figured out how to fit a routine for Reese into his, and so far she's just been pretty easygoing about her day.

But we need to start getting her regimented so that she knows what to expect now. I'm easing her into it, because next week another big thing will be happening to Miss Reesie Piecey. Next Wednesday she will be starting Rice Cereal for the first time. So I don't want to start a full out routine when it's going to be readjusted with cereal feedings and everything else. But tonight I gave her a bath, read to her, fed her and laid her down asleep. I went ahead and got Wyatt ready for bed, and as I predicted, she woke up. I tucked Wyatt in and went to check on her and soothe her, but then I left. It took about 30 minutes of me going in and soothing her, but she finally fell asleep. I know it's not going to be automatic, but I think she will really enjoy finally having a routine. Because I know I will.

Valentine's Flowers

So, like I said in my post about Valentine's Day, the boys bought me flowers and Wyatt gave them to me. When they got home Wyatt walked in the door with them and he had biggest smile on his face, so I videotaped it. This is not a reenactment. I like to think that I'm a totally prepared-at-all-times Mommy, but I'm not. Especially when my boys just show up with flowers and I'm all in the middle of making "healthy" cupcakes.

Photo Book

A few weeks ago I decided to make a photo book with Noelle's pictures in it for Brian as a surprise. I've been thinking a lot lately about making a blog book so I have a hard copy of everything we've done since I started blogging, but I also want to make some photo books. I figured that it would be best to start with Noelle's book.

I put it together and ordered it on shutterfly. It took me about two hours to complete, and I loved it because they had dog backgrounds! Anyway, I couldn't keep it a secret until it came (I never can. We've already discussed wanting to be surprised when we have a third baby, but I don't know how that's going to work out), so I showed Brian what it looked like online. He was really excited for it to arrive and so was I.

It only took a few days for it to get here, and it turned out better than I imagined! I've already decided that I will do one book a year for each kid. I'm going to go back and make a book of Wyatt's first year, and then do his second year, and I'll work on Reese's throughout the year. I think in the long run it will be cheaper, and less headache-inducing than scrapbooking. I hate how messy scrapbooking is, and to be honest, I don't find it to be soothing. Maybe it's because I'm not crafty. Anyway, here's how Noelley's book turned out!

We Have A Speller

Last night Brian and Wyatt were in the kitchen getting some juice and Wyatt walked over to his letters on the fridge. He pointed at them and said "B-A-L-L, ball." Now, he didn't actually point to the right letters, but he still spelled ball! Brian then walked over to the fridge and showed him the correct letters, but we were both pretty surprised that he knew how to spell it. Awesome. Now we're off to our play date with Tyler and Kira!

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was a pretty fun day in our house! We woke up around 7:30 (Wyatt actually slept in, so we weren't semi-awake for an hour before we actually went and got him). We all started the day with heart shaped pancakes...made by me. They're whole wheat and I also throw some milled flax seed in there. I figure if I start Wyatt with all this healthy stuff first, he won't know what he's missing! I do usually give him sugar free maple syrup, but we were out so I drizzled some honey on instead. Here are some of the pancakes in Wyatt's red bowl.
For Valentine's Day Wyatt got a Caillou DVD and a Thomas card. He loved them both. He wanted to watch Caillou immediately, and he liked it when Daddy read him his card.

After breakfast we made cupcakes (and yes, I threw the flax seed in these too, that way I convince myself that they're "healthy."). I took the recipe from the February issue of Parents. I am no where near as handy with frosting, but they turned out pretty cute.

The boys went to go get me flowers. When they came home, Wyatt came walking through the door with my roses in his hands. He ran over and brought them straight to me with the biggest smile on his face!

I picked out my actual present last Saturday. I've been looking around at diaper bags lately because I'm sick of carrying around a backpack and my other diaper bag is difficult to carry. I was looking for a cute, messenger style bag that would carry everything I needed for both kids and I found it! I absolutely love this bag, and I've been using it for the last week :).

In the afternoon we all got dressed up to go to Natalie's baptism. Reese wore her cute Restoration Hardware dress and she looked absolutely adorable. She was so well behaved too, I was very proud of her!

Reese had a great Valentine's Day!

To end his exciting day, Wyatt got to eat a cupcake while Daddy went to get us some sushi for dinner! I'd been looking forward to it all day, but I was pretty bummed when he got home with our order, but no Volcano roll on the house! Wyatt made a pretty good mess of himself though!

Where Does He Get This Stuff?

So this morning Brian calls me at work to tell me about something Wyatt did this morning. For awhile now he's been climbing on his bookshelf to reach the switch to turn the light on in his playroom. He doesn't do it much, but when he wants the light on or off, he definitely takes care of it himself. (For the record, his bookshelf is about a foot and a half off the ground, I'm not letting him climb Mount Everest or anything).

This morning Wyatt wanted the light on. Instead of standing on the bookshelf to get to it, he walked around the room until he found his soft Yankees bat. He picked it up, walked over to the switch and used the bat to push the switch up to turn the light on. How enterprising!

Alright, enough blogging, my little growler is sitting next to me growling and squealing for me to come play with her. I've never heard a little baby growl like this before!

Some Pictures

Playing on her play mat
Sitting up by herself! This lasted for about 30 seconds.

Laughing at Daddy

Wyatt watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and hugging his brand new Mickey and Pluto. Okay, they're not brand new because they were Brian's when he was little, but they're new to him.

The Aforementioned Art Project

Thanks to that little French Canadian kid Caillou Wyatt's pretty in to Valentine's Day. Caillou made Valentines for his friends in playschool, so Wyatt's been talking about "Vawentimes." He was so excited when he got his very first Valentine from Great Grandma!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Valentine's Day art project

Wyatt made this one himself. He crumpled up the heart (I think he was going for a 3D effect).
Here's the heart project we borrowed from the O'Laughlin clan. Wyatt helped me name grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts and dogs. I took him at his word (which is why Piper's says "Baby Purpy). Then I threw in a few of my own :).

Crazy Days

Brian's been out of town the last few days on business, so it's just been me and the kids. I was a little worried about how things were going to turn out without him, but everything went surprisingly well. Reese still hasn't been sleeping, but Wyatt has been an angel. Seriously, I could not have asked for him to be better behaved.

We ran some errands and did a lot of playing outside. Yesterday we also watched the Grammys. Actually, we fast forwarded through the Grammys. Wyatt loves music and he loves instruments. He kept staring at the TV saying "Look at the drums mama." Brian is actually sitting on the couch next to me watching Dave Grohl play the drums with Paul McCartney saying "Brittney, look at the drums." Like father, like son. Wyatt's favorite performance of the Grammys was Coldplay. They had really cool drums and he likes to dance to that song. That Coldplay song. Yeah, you know the one.

Today we went to the park where Wyatt once again showed off his independent streak. He loves going down the slide, and he particularly enjoyed showing off for the young ladies that he was playing with. We went and got some art supplies and my Dad's fire truck was sitting in the parking lot of the shopping center. Wyatt looked over and said "Mama, look at Pop Pop's fire truck." So we drove over and looked at it for a few minutes. Then we came home and did some arts and crafts and worked on a project that I shamelessly stole from Ri. But it was a good idea, so I figured why not?

Reese is making great strides towards being able to sit up by herself. She was up for about a minute this afternoon before she tumbled down. But she tumbled with a big smile on her face.

On another note, here are a few things my husband has said in the last 5 minutes while watching the Grammys....
*"Hey that's, what's his name? Jamie Foxx? I keep wanting to call him Ray."
*"If I was in that marching band I’d go all Nick Cannon from Drumline and go out front and start banging on my drum in front of Radiohead."
He's apparently in a bit of a mood with all of this traveling....

I Love This Weather!

Yesterday we got out of the house. We had some errands to run (Home Depot, Target, etc), and we needed to drop off new flowers for Noelle. It was an absolutely great day to be outside because it was gorgeous. Wyatt loves going to the Home Depot because he likes to "drive" the shopping cart, and he especially enjoyed driving Reese in the cart. We went to Babies R Us because a certain little girl has decided that she no longer likes her bottles. I think it's my fault because she only gets 4 bottles a week. I was so afraid that she was going to end up like her brother, preferring the bottle, that I hold out on it on weekends. She eats once (if she's really hungry) the five hours a day that I'm at work, and I think she's gotten spoiled. So I bought her more "natural" bottles that are supposed to be more like the actual "breastfeeding experience" if there is such a thing. I haven't tried them yet, so I guess we'll see.

We went on a nice long walk in the evening that ended up at the park. Brian got to see Wyatt in his element, trying to do everything himself. I think Brian was a little taken aback when they got to the top of the slide and Wyatt pushed him away and said "Wy wy do it. Look at me!" It's just crazy that he's not even two years old yet and he's already trying to assert his independence. They both had a lot of fun running around, and Reese enjoyed her second time on the swings a lot more than she did last Monday!

Speaking of my little "Gorgeous Smorgeous" (I know it's dumb, but she smiles when I say it), she is teething and will not sleep at night unless she is cuddled up against me or is swinging in her swing. I can't believe that my little angel sleeper is becoming a fussy sleeper, but I'm hoping it's just a teething thing. This week I'm going to start putting her down for naps in her crib to get her used to her own bed. I know she's almost 6 months old, but I'm not ready to part with her at night yet. I don't know when I will be, but naps in her crib seem like a good first step.

She's also totally showing her personality off now. She loves to play with rattles and she has a little doll that hangs over her on the play mat that she talks to. When she's in her exersaucer she squeals at all the toys. I am really loving this stage (during the day)!

What Is Up With These Breastfeeding Companies?

Two companies, both exceeding my expectations. Last month I blogged about Lansinoh and an excellent customer service experience that I had with them. This excellent experience resulted in me switching to their diaper rash cream because they put some in the package they sent me. And it is some amazing butt paste. But I digress. Today I called Medela and I have to say it was equally fantastic.

See, I've used the same pump for both kids. I need new tubing (you know, the tube that connects the actual pump to the bottles). Mine has been getting some condensation and I'm afraid its going to mildew. I've been looking everywhere for the tubes for about 2 weeks. They weren't at Target or Babies R' Us and I couldn't find any online.

So this morning I called the company. The nice rep on the phone said she would send me the tubing for free! Awesome. I just can't tell you how important customer service is to me, and I can't tell you how nice it is to feel like a valued customer. I worked on the phones as a service rep for about a year and a half (to be honest, I hated it and when the shot at my current job came I snatched it up) and I know how trying it can be, but I also know how important it is. This experience really made my day. Seriously...

Exersaucering

Here's Reese playing in her exersaucer today hamming it up for the camera. She has such a blast playing with the giraffe toy (well, mainly using it for teething)! At the end her super polite big brother thanks her for letting him give her a kiss.

Now She's Rolling the Other Way!

Reese just rolled from her back to her tummy! I called Brian to tell him and he asked if I got it with the video camera....and the answer is no, I didn't. I was sitting next to her on the floor while she played on the play mat and I got up to get some water. When I walked back in the room (15 seconds later) she was on her tummy looking around! I'm waiting for repeat, but it hasn't happened yet!

A Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a great day to play outside. We hadn't had a nice, warm (but breezy) day in awhile. Wyatt was itching to get out of the house. Before he went down to sleep I told him that we were going to go outside to the park when he woke up. He looked at me with the biggest smile and said "Wy wy gonna go slide!" He then proceeded to tell me that he was also "gonna play baseball outside." Needless to say, he didn't sleep for very long at all.

We got all geared up and went to the park. He had a ton of fun playing on the jungle gym and the slides. I let him ride the slide on his own and he had the biggest smile on his face. He also seemed to enjoy throwing himself down on the ground while saying "Wyatt gonna get dirty and messy!" He is such a silly kid!

Reese got to enjoy her first time swinging on the swing set, but it didn't last long. She got bored with it. Wyatt laughed and ran around the park...he had a really great time!

Once we got home I took out his baseball tee and he got some batting practice in. Then he looked at me and said "Wyatt gonna get football. Hut one, hut two!," and then he ran for the front door to go inside to get the football. We ran around the front yard tackling each other to the ground for about 20 minutes. And the fun abruptly ended when he threw the ball in the street when I asked him not to. Have I mentioned how much I want a backyard that isn't taken up with a huge pool?

Getting ready to take a few swings
Laughing after throwing himself down on the ground. It almost looks like a fall day doesn't it?

Climbing up the jungle gym

Sliding down the slide

Just playing!

Super Sunday

Today was the Third Annual Baker Family Super Bowl Party. Two years ago there were no children here. Last year there were two. This year there were four, five if you count the baby Shannon's pregnant with. The boys had fun. Perhaps they had too much fun. I will explain (and provide proof) of that later.

This morning Brian and I cleaned the house up and I sent him to Target with Wyatt while I cooked. He was getting ready to go and Wyatt was watching Caillou before they left. He likes to be comfy while he watches TV...

Reese came very close to sitting up by herself today, but every time she got close she would smile and then fall down. I think we're on the verge of having a little girl who can sit up all by herself! We dug through some of Wyatt's baby clothes to get Reese decked out for the Super Bowl and found his old Dolphins' jersey. Brian has been a Dolphins fan since he was little. He has some sort of Dolphins shirt on in practically every one of his school pictures. Even though they hadn't had a winning season in years, Brian still bought a jersey for Wyatt. He was so happy that they made it to the playoffs this year. Anyway, here's Reese in her football gear (I added the pink ribbon to "girlify" her)....

And finally, here's the proof that the boys had a blast. Brian cleaned the playroom this afternoon and made sure that the train was set up perfectly on the table. The boys took everything off. Then they climbed on top. Then they tried to wrestle. Here's a picture from before the real damage happened....

Unfortunately the Super Bowl marks a sad day for us. As of February 1st, Brian goes back to five day work weeks. While it's not a huge deal, it marks the beginning of the busy season. Before we know it, it will be March and April and his days at work will start getting longer. Then he'll pop in for a few hours on the weekend. Then the park opens and we only get him on Mondays :(! While I hate having my husband at work for longer days, I really am looking forward to some warmer weather!