Alligator Hunter

Westen has said some very funny things this week! First, he told me that I'm the "bestest and cutest momma." :) Then last night, he told me my belly button looks "old" LOL.. and that my tummy is "squishy." He said it's not fat but then asked if having a baby made me fat! Oh kids. :) How honest they are! Today, he said he's going to be an "alligator hunter" when he's big. He also said he was going to marry his friend Calla, then asked me if that was ok. I told him if it was okay with her, so he asked her and she shook her shoulders.. Westen then said, "I think that means yes!" He says the funniest & sweetest things.

I think I've forgotten to write that for some time now Aeson says "What's that?" to EVERYTHING. Lately, especially when he's nursing, he'll go back and forth among all the parts that make up the face and "milk." He's also been signing "all done" after every meal! Acey's also been pointing to everything and everywhere. He'll even point to the bedroom and have us follow him when he's tired! And he knows what I mean when I say "potty" or "bath" and will go to the bathroom door.

I love both their ages right now!

It's been a really good week here. I love being busy and being OUT of the home. We were gone all day Monday. Tuesday got a little boring, especially since it rained some and we were unable to get outside. Wednesday, I did some baking in the morning and then we had Calla in the afternoon, so I also got to talk to her mom. Thursday was our usual "Mommy" playgroup. I'm so glad I've made a couple of new friends and we continue to get together every week. It's SO nice to have company. Today has been very busy.. I got Westen ready for school & then he went outside to play.. I told him to stay out of the dirt, but of course he didn't, so he had to change completely & I had to get him cleaned up. I made a new recipe for lunch & then we went to pick Calla up before preschool, the babies napped, and then we played outside. This time while we were outside, Aeson was the one to get in the dirt, so after letting him play for a while, I had to completely change HIM and clean him up!

We've got lots of plans this weekend. I think we're going to go pick out our pumpkins and we have a birthday party on Sunday. Monday, we're taking a trip to the fire house with Westen's class & our music classes start. We signed both the boys up for family music classes at the local college. I'm sure it will be fun!

Co-sleeping

My little Ace is getting SO big! He's really turning into a little boy. And Westen's really turning into an older child!

Two nights ago, we decided to try Aeson in his crib. He gets so restless in the early mornings and ends up kicking us and waking us up off and on, so we thought he might like having more room to himself. I rocked (and nursed) him to sleep the first night.. It took over a half hour to get him to go to sleep! He was definitely tired, but I think it was the different surroundings that kept him from going to sleep. He ended up sleeping from 8:30-10:30 and when he woke up fussing, we brought him to bed with us. We both missed having him there! Last night, he was VERY tired well before any of us were, so I once again rocked him to sleep. This time, it only took about 10 minutes or so & he ended up sleeping from 8-midnight in there! I thought that was really good. He nurses a lot at night, so I think he's used to waking up to eat. He slept with us the rest of the night, but I think he'd be easy to get back to sleep if we tried that too. Such a big boy!

Westen, on the other hand, has NOT been wanting to sleep in his bed! Ever since we got our kitten, he's been too scared to sleep in there. I think the cat playing in the dark would scare him. Now, our cat is missing (and I doubt will be coming back at this point..) so we need to start working on that too.

I think next time, we'll want to try transitioning to the crib earlier. Who knows, though.. I'm not in any hurry for them to grow up! I co-slept with Westen in the first couple of months but soon had him in his own bed. He took a bottle, was easy to put to sleep, and slept all night by the time I even went back to work. I, however, did not have a successful nursing relationship with him, so I think that had a big impact on things. Aeson has always nursed (and had no bottles since I began staying home), so co-sleeping makes that MUCH easier. Neither of us mind him sleeping with us, and he's NEVER slept through the night, so once again- much easier! However, with trying to rock him and lift him over his crib, I realize it would've been much easier when he was smaller. I still don't mind, though. I know I will miss these times! I barely remember Westen being that young. I also hope to pump and use more bottles next time, because Aeson's pretty much reliant on me for everything. I love him tons, though, and LOVE the closeness we share!

Fall

I love fall! I can't believe I forgot to write about us going to Tanner's Orchard a few weeks ago. It was quite a drive, but it was a lot of fun. We went apple picking for the first time and everyone loved that. We brought home LOTS of apples and everybody ate some along the way. Even Aeson, who had never had a whole apple before, started biting into one and did just fine with it! They had a little shop where you could taste all sorts of yummy things. We brought home some apple cider, cider doughnuts, and fudge. The kids got to feed farm animals, ride on ponies, and play on the playground.

We've had our house decorated for quite some time already. Westen was very anxious to do it (and as I said, I love fall & Halloween), so we let him. He's painted a pumpkin, but we haven't picked out any to carve yet. I think we may do that this coming weekend. Yesterday, we had to go to Quincy, so we stopped at an orchard there and got some more cider & apples. I also let Westen pick out a craft project at the store yesterday, so last night we all sat down & made a spiderweb and spider to go on it. Westen says he wants to go to the haunted corn maze this year, so I think we'll try but we'll see how he does!

Both kids have been able to ride on the combine with Dad this year. Both love it! Westen asks lots of questions and Aeson just lays back on me and takes it all in! I figured he'd be into everything but it was actually the opposite.. He was very relaxed.

Pottying Aeson has been going pretty well. It makes me very happy when he goes in the potty! We're not pushing him or doing it full-time or anything, but this way, he can get used to it and he seems to like it. He'd only gone pee until last night. This is the first time I've done it this early, so it's a learning process for both of us!

I went through Aeson's drawers this morning.. It seems like I have to do that monthly. He grows so fast. He's really turning into quite the little boy. He LOVES music too. Anytime he hears any type of music, he'll instantly stop what he's doing and either watch or start dancing and/or singing himself. I think he's going to be musical!

Finally, we got some good news a couple weeks ago.. My sister & her family are moving back! We're beyond thrilled & I can't WAIT to have them back.

Climber & EC

There's my little climber! He will not stay away from the oven! So far, he does seem to notice when it's on and warm & he hasn't really tried to mess with it then.. But I'm always right there too & telling him no, hot! Otherwise, he likes climbing on it several times a day. One day I was holding it closed and so he angrily opened the drawer there next to it and attempted to pull himself up.. He did a full pull up! He's one strong little man. We tried to find an oven lock but haven't yet. He also sees his brother use his step stool all the time, so he thinks he has to as well! He actually uses it very well!

Courtesy of wikipedia: Elimination communication (EC) is a toilet training practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet). Caregivers either use diapers as a back-up in case of misses, avoid the use of them altogether, or do a mixture of the two. EC emphasizes communication between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more attuned to the child's innate rhythms and control of urination and defecation. The practice can be done full time, part time, or just occasionally. The term "elimination communication" was inspired by traditional practices of diaper-less baby care in less industrialized countries and hunter-gatherer cultures.^[1] Some practitioners of EC begin soon after birth, although it can be started with babies of any age.

This week, I began semi using elimination communication. Aeson hates to have diapers on & will take them off any chance he gets. I also figure since I'm home, I may as well be working on it with him! And, I see this as the more natural thing.. Diapers don't seem that way for me. Plus, I get tired of washing diapers all the time & I don't want him to get used to always going in them, which will in turn make potty training harder! I'm not trying it all the time yet or anything like that.. It's too hard with other children here or when we go out places.. but I say it's still a start! I thought it was rather fun too. I haven't picked up on any signal or cue that he's going to go potty but once he started, I stuck the bucket under him and he LOVED peeing in it! He actually stopped himself pretty much every time (when I gasped, realizing he was going!) and then started again once the bowl was under him. Once, he's even pointed to the bowl & when I got it, he went! He was pretty proud of himself for pottying in there. He also LOVES to sit on the toilet.. but the problem is, he just wants to sit there! And sit there & sit there & sit there! :) He's made a few messes but luckily we have hardwood floors & it's an easy cleanup. I hope I continue to find time to work on it with him. I think it's a pretty amazing practice!

Well, I hear my little bundle up right now, so I better go cuddle him & give him some milk!

Westen's first 'girlfriend'

Starting a few weeks ago, a couple of girls I met through LLL and I have been meeting every Thursday, just to hang out and get to know each other better. One of them has a 4 year old daughter and she attends the same preschool as Westen. They play together the entire time without any problems whatsoever. This past week, when Calla's mommy came to get her, Westen & Calla both started protesting, asking for Calla to please be able to stay here or for Westen to be able to go to her house. Shannon (Calla's mom) said something about not needing to see each other EVERY day, to which they both protested with Westen saying "We're boyfriend and girlfriend now!" and Calla shaking her head yes.

The next day, Calla came with us after school to stay for a bit. Once again, we went through neither of them wanting to leave each other when it was time to go (and Westen even crying because he said he would miss her!). While she was here, I also overheard him telling her he loves her! I think he was actually trying to get her to come do something with him and he was like "But I like you.. I love you!"

Later that night, Westen told us that he'd kissed Calla! I thought he was joking, but he swore up and down that he was not fibbing. He said that she'd said "Let's kiss!" while they were playing house in the playpen they'd made into a 'tent.' He kissed her right on the lips and even showed me how he did! I didn't know how to respond! I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my FOUR year old!! He obviously picked up on this, telling me that it was "okay because I love her." Oh boy!!!

I still don't know quite what to think about it! I thought it was cute and funny, but I also don't want him to grow up too fast! Parenting is so much harder than you think it will be!!

WALKING!!!

Let's see how much I can write while all 3 babies are sleeping!

First.. the most important thing!.. Aeson is WALKING!! A couple weeks ago, he'd gotten up to about 8 steps and then hadn't even tried for about a week and then two nights ago, he just started walking all over the place! It is too cute! He isn't even really wobbly & if he starts to lose his balance, he just squats down. He also was drinking VERY well out of the sippy cup yesterday (finally!).

My sister and her family were here this last weekend and they brought along a new picture of their baby, Bentley. After they left on Sunday, I put it in a frame we had next to our tv and as soon as Aeson noticed it, he went up to the picture and kept pointing to it squealing and talking. He then carried it over to me (walking!) and did the same thing. THEN, he started giving it kisses! I've never seen him give ANYTHING kisses. He's continued doing this same thing since then! We have other pictures up but he doesn't do anything to those except knock them down. He must love his little cousin bunches! :) Last night, Eric & I both swear he said 'Bentley' while doing all of this too.

Westen is loving school. He said yesterday that he wishes he could stay there all night because he loves it that much! He also said that the teacher said again how much she loves when people say please, because he'd said it again when asking for more milk.. So he said he's going to keep saying it so she'll keep saying that! :)

This past weekend, we also went shopping in Springfield for a few things. While we were there, Westen & Aeson got to ride on the carousel (picture below) and we took Westen to the Build A Bear store. He had never done it before, but he LOVED it. He chose a Cubs outfit and named the bear Cubby.

And then, the last picture below is one day when Aeson & Cohen dumped an entire box of cereal out!

First Day of Preschool!

Westen started preschool this week! We decided to go with the local Catholic preschool, so he only goes three days a week for a little over 2 hours each time. The preschool is actually in a little house that's behind the church/school, which I think makes it kind of nice. There are 11 kids in his class, with only 4 of them being boys (Westen included). The teacher is awesome and she has an aid as well. Westen was completely ready to go.. I, on the other hand, had weird feelings! I was nervous and sad and excited all at the same time! When I picked him up, the first thing he said to me was "I missed you, Mom!".. followed a few seconds later by "I was good!" :) He told me after his second day that he asked for more milk "please" at snack time and his teacher said she just LOVES when people say please. :) He's really enjoying it so far. He's come home with pictures he colored or made and tells me about the snack they had and how much they played. I'm glad he gets to be around other kids his age.

One day last week, I think it was, Westen used "speaking of" and "impressed" correctly while he was talking! He's such a big boy now. He also asked me the other day if God put a baby in my tummy yet. I said "you mean, besides Aeson?" and he said yes.. I said nope, and he goes "awww.. Mom!" in a disappointed tone. :) I asked if he wanted another baby and he said yes and I said "besides Aeson??" & he said "yes!"

Aeson has continued getting into anything & everything! Last week, he pulled many, many Kleenex's out of the box and then later that week, he dumped almost an entire box of cereal out onto the floor. He's so funny at this age. He dances and loves to give high fives. He'll go get a snack out of the kitchen (if the pantry's open) and bring it all the way into the living room and throw it on my lap! He LOVES cheese. He also LOVES to be outside. If he could be outside or in the bathtub, I'm pretty sure he'd be happy 24/7!

We're going to the Balloon Glow tonight, so I'm excited for the boys.. I'm sure they'll both love it.

Oh, and one of my best friends Sasha had her third baby boy yesterday (well, in the middle of the night). She named him Oliver Nicholas!