6 months...half birthday...Liam is growing up fast!!
This has been the craziest month in awhile.
We moved halfway across the country...back home to Kansas!
It was quite the adventure, but overall it went really smoothly, all things considered!
We only lost 1 box and 1 floor lamp. Thankfully there wasn't anything irreplacable in that box, but frustrating nonetheless.
Liam baby is growing leaps and bounds!! In these last few weeks he has become a much stronger sitter, even though he still can't do it independently yet. He likes you to sit on the floor so he can sit between your legs and play!
He's getting around really well! He scoots backwards and rolls and can turn himself on his belly. He is always somewhere different everytime I see him in his crib over the monitor. He prefers to cram himself into the same corner of his crib to sleep! I'm loving all these baby milestones and new things he can do! He can entertain himself a little better and can stay awake longer and...
...he's moving passed the short nap phase!!
THANK GOODNESS!!! My little 30-minute nap babies - what a frustrating phase! He now only has one short nap per day, usually. Now his naps are 1.5 hours on average, sometimes a 2 or 3 hour nap! This makes it so much easier to "schedule" my day a little bit more, except that now it seems like someone is always napping, so it will be a little more tricky to get out of the house! At least I have more opportunities to get things done with only one kid awake and more one-on-one time with each baby!
But I won't complain. It is seriously such a blessing when your kids improve their sleeping habits! He still wakes twice a night - lately it's been around midnight and 3, but he's really inconsistent about that. I'm looking forward to more sleep at night. Hopefully that will be coming up in the next few months!
We started Liam on food!! Ava was super eager and was swallowing food just a few days into Baby Led Weaning. Liam? Not so much...he likes to hold food a bit and move it around on the tray but so far hasn't reacted positively when it enters his mouth! I think it will take him much longer to come around! He loves his sippy cup, though - mainly to just chew on the spout. When he actually does get some water out, it usually makes him stop in his tracks and frown or gag on it! He makes the best faces - I feel bad for the little guy, but it's so funny I can't help but giggle!
Speaking of giggling, it's so easy to make him giggle! He's really ticklish and little games make him light up! He's more emotional than Ava was (baby Ava was happy pretty much 99% of the time...toddler Ava is a whole different ballgame, haha) but when he's happy, it's the best thing ever! I love that he will snuggle into my neck - melts my heart every. single. time.
He's doing a lot more talking too - he mastered "dada" before Chris left! But I don't count that as his first word because he doesn't associate "dada" with Chris yet. He likes to blow bubbles and sometimes I hear him chattering in his crib before he falls asleep!
It's funny to look back on when we just had one child, and how at the time we thought it was so hard and time consuming. Now I think, man that was so much easier!! There's always something going on and messes to wipe up and diapers to change and getting a dropped toy or a lost sippy cup for someone.
Ava is becoming more and more of a particular toddler with each day that passes. She insists on eating about every 10 minutes. She wants the tv on so she can ignore it and then run off to go play on her iPad. You turn the tv off, she notices! So we are trying to work on that one - drives me nuts! She is quick to anger but about half the time I can distract her by being silly. Or it just makes her more mad; you never know! The other day she lost her mind because she wanted a bite of my banana and I would only give it to her in the kitchen, but she wanted me to sit down on the couch so she could eat it there. I'm all about picking my battles...but this one was ridiculous. Her list of demands is getting out of control, so she was due to hear a "NO" from me - can't get everything you want, Ava!! Some days she's really picky about her food. And some days she will eat things that surprise me.
Ava sure loves her brother! She's always wanting to check up on him or love on him or rub his head or belly. She wipes his chin and brings him toys. Today I heard her spontaneously say his name...it's evolved from "Bia" when I was pregnant with him (it's his nickname now!) to "Wee-uh/um" after he was born, and now it has become "Bee-bum", hahaha!!
P.S. Graco customer service is so awesome!! We had an issue come up with the car seat (we used it for Ava for about 10 months and then Liam used it for about 3 when the issue came up) and I contacted Graco about it. Long story short, they offered a full replacement! We opted to go ahead and upgrade Liam to a convertible seat and bumped Ava up to a new toddler seat! I was really blown away by their customer service. It never hurts to ask, when in doubt!
I have no idea what this next month is going to look like. I am hopeful but I'm also preparing for some pretty serious toddler meltdowns and poor sleeping habits and lots of wine and chocolate for mommy. I have some goals for myself to eat well and work out, but I'm also going to give myself permission to be a slob and be lazy and eat crap if that's what I need to do to cope once in awhile! I am so incredibly grateful for my wonderful friends and family who have already been so supportive and have been sending sweet messages to me - it really means a lot!!!
Military life isn't for everyone. It's not always my favorite but it does have it's perks, too. Right now we are just on the "sucky" side of things. I have learned so much about resiliency over the years, and I'm sure I will learn so much more over this next year, too.
This has been the craziest month in awhile.
We moved halfway across the country...back home to Kansas!
It was quite the adventure, but overall it went really smoothly, all things considered!
We only lost 1 box and 1 floor lamp. Thankfully there wasn't anything irreplacable in that box, but frustrating nonetheless.
Liam baby is growing leaps and bounds!! In these last few weeks he has become a much stronger sitter, even though he still can't do it independently yet. He likes you to sit on the floor so he can sit between your legs and play!
He's getting around really well! He scoots backwards and rolls and can turn himself on his belly. He is always somewhere different everytime I see him in his crib over the monitor. He prefers to cram himself into the same corner of his crib to sleep! I'm loving all these baby milestones and new things he can do! He can entertain himself a little better and can stay awake longer and...
...he's moving passed the short nap phase!!
THANK GOODNESS!!! My little 30-minute nap babies - what a frustrating phase! He now only has one short nap per day, usually. Now his naps are 1.5 hours on average, sometimes a 2 or 3 hour nap! This makes it so much easier to "schedule" my day a little bit more, except that now it seems like someone is always napping, so it will be a little more tricky to get out of the house! At least I have more opportunities to get things done with only one kid awake and more one-on-one time with each baby!
But I won't complain. It is seriously such a blessing when your kids improve their sleeping habits! He still wakes twice a night - lately it's been around midnight and 3, but he's really inconsistent about that. I'm looking forward to more sleep at night. Hopefully that will be coming up in the next few months!
We started Liam on food!! Ava was super eager and was swallowing food just a few days into Baby Led Weaning. Liam? Not so much...he likes to hold food a bit and move it around on the tray but so far hasn't reacted positively when it enters his mouth! I think it will take him much longer to come around! He loves his sippy cup, though - mainly to just chew on the spout. When he actually does get some water out, it usually makes him stop in his tracks and frown or gag on it! He makes the best faces - I feel bad for the little guy, but it's so funny I can't help but giggle!
Speaking of giggling, it's so easy to make him giggle! He's really ticklish and little games make him light up! He's more emotional than Ava was (baby Ava was happy pretty much 99% of the time...toddler Ava is a whole different ballgame, haha) but when he's happy, it's the best thing ever! I love that he will snuggle into my neck - melts my heart every. single. time.
He's doing a lot more talking too - he mastered "dada" before Chris left! But I don't count that as his first word because he doesn't associate "dada" with Chris yet. He likes to blow bubbles and sometimes I hear him chattering in his crib before he falls asleep!
It's funny to look back on when we just had one child, and how at the time we thought it was so hard and time consuming. Now I think, man that was so much easier!! There's always something going on and messes to wipe up and diapers to change and getting a dropped toy or a lost sippy cup for someone.
Ava is becoming more and more of a particular toddler with each day that passes. She insists on eating about every 10 minutes. She wants the tv on so she can ignore it and then run off to go play on her iPad. You turn the tv off, she notices! So we are trying to work on that one - drives me nuts! She is quick to anger but about half the time I can distract her by being silly. Or it just makes her more mad; you never know! The other day she lost her mind because she wanted a bite of my banana and I would only give it to her in the kitchen, but she wanted me to sit down on the couch so she could eat it there. I'm all about picking my battles...but this one was ridiculous. Her list of demands is getting out of control, so she was due to hear a "NO" from me - can't get everything you want, Ava!! Some days she's really picky about her food. And some days she will eat things that surprise me.
Ava sure loves her brother! She's always wanting to check up on him or love on him or rub his head or belly. She wipes his chin and brings him toys. Today I heard her spontaneously say his name...it's evolved from "Bia" when I was pregnant with him (it's his nickname now!) to "Wee-uh/um" after he was born, and now it has become "Bee-bum", hahaha!!
P.S. Graco customer service is so awesome!! We had an issue come up with the car seat (we used it for Ava for about 10 months and then Liam used it for about 3 when the issue came up) and I contacted Graco about it. Long story short, they offered a full replacement! We opted to go ahead and upgrade Liam to a convertible seat and bumped Ava up to a new toddler seat! I was really blown away by their customer service. It never hurts to ask, when in doubt!
I have no idea what this next month is going to look like. I am hopeful but I'm also preparing for some pretty serious toddler meltdowns and poor sleeping habits and lots of wine and chocolate for mommy. I have some goals for myself to eat well and work out, but I'm also going to give myself permission to be a slob and be lazy and eat crap if that's what I need to do to cope once in awhile! I am so incredibly grateful for my wonderful friends and family who have already been so supportive and have been sending sweet messages to me - it really means a lot!!!
Military life isn't for everyone. It's not always my favorite but it does have it's perks, too. Right now we are just on the "sucky" side of things. I have learned so much about resiliency over the years, and I'm sure I will learn so much more over this next year, too.
Someone once told me what the optimal number of children is: one less than you currently have!! When you said how now one chld seems so easy, I thought of that. When I had 3 kids, I knew how easy TWO was. I ended up with FOUR - but now I am a grandma of 9, and it's way more fun than being the mom. :)
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